This Is How A Heart Breaks
by Jasmine Starlight
Summary: Yaoihet. NejiSasu Sasuke’s slightly mordant Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold.
1. On The Suicide Highway

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

A/N: Another AU, …yeah…yeah…yeah…this is for my reviewers who wanted Neji/Sasu…well……here it is.

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

A/N: I like Sasuke as an outcast better than a popular person; it makes him easier to create angst for. I angst therefore I am. I don't like to make people evil sick bastards, like making Itachi a rapist. Don't like it, I would make him evil but it's been done too many times in HS fics.

So I've decided that everyone will secretly hate everyone else. Then no one is the real villain. Except maybe Orochimaru. He's creepy. But then I can pair him Jiraiya and he can become reformed.

I like secondary characters. They rock my socks. I also like angst. And humor. I can't purposely write either of them, they just end up in the same place. Sigh.

But I can write romance…randomly. I like all the Jounins who don't get enough screen time.

I will try to keep this story cliché free, but with all the pop cultures references I can. I like pop culture references.

The stuff in _italics_ is thoughts. I wrote another insanely long summary. Damnit.

Dedicated to Frontier of Darkness

**CHAPTER ONE**

**ON THE SUICIDE HIGHWAY**

"Sister, I'm not much a poet, but a criminal  
And you never had a chance  
Love it, or leave it, you can't understand  
A pretty face, but you do so carry on,  
and on,  
and on"

--My Chemical Romance

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_This is stupid, really stupid._

_You might wonder what this is, it is a journal, and we're supposed to be keeping one for our time capsule at the end of the year. We as in the students of Konoha High._

_Me as in Uchiha Sasuke. Maybe I should tell you about myself, maybe._

_Personally, I think this is a ploy by the teachers to get us to do work without us thinking it's work. Occasionally they give us questionnaires to fill out, which are stupid and pointless. In a hundred years will people care what clothes we wore and what music we listened to?_

_I don't care now._

_But the journal is supposed to be 40 of our final grade, and they're supposedly having random checks or something. You'd think we're being searched for bombs._

_These are just words. They don't mean anything. They won't change anybody or anything, it's just ink. _

_At the end of the year we're all doing a video diary. What fun that will be._

_But I'm tired of talking about how stupid and useless this project is. It won't do anything, just words, you know. _

_I'm 15, 16 soon. I'm a Sophomore. Yay!_

_I don't particularly like going here. It's disconcerting. My brother and cousin go here already so as if I wasn't already overshadowed enough at home._

_Shisui is really irritating._

_Itachi can be okay, when it's convenient for him, which is never convenient for **me**. Some of the people in my grade are so fake, and pointless, and self-centered. They used to be tolerable in middle school but now it's impossible to go anywhere without listening to them titter on and on about things that make absolutely no sense._

_I am the antithesis of popular. I could be captain of everything, soccer, football, basketball, rugby, tennis, etc, etc._

_But I chose not to. As a perk I get to see the vein in my father's head pulse rapidly._

_It's already been done, several times, by every Uchiha who came before me. Honestly, it doesn't really matter if I become captain of everything and become class President and Prom King and the most popular dude in school. All of those titles are fleeting, superficial; they don't mean anything in the real world. _

_I like being antisocial._

_It's easy._

_I don't have to put up a front. I don't have to pretend like I care. I don't have to do anything unless I want to._

_Well, my friends…they're sort of retarded, moronic, idiotic, immature, ineffectual, antisocial, anti-school, anti-normal, anti-trend, and pro-weird._

_Naruto is a blithering idiot most of the time, but he does have his moments. Like when he toilet papered the entire basketball team because they told him that Santa Claus didn't exist._

_I asked him about it and he said this, "'Course I knew that Santa Claus didn't exist! Bastards didn't have to ruin it though, Christmas spirit you know."_

_They weren't very happy about it, although Itachi did send me some interesting pictures. Those dumb jocks looked like tomatoes. Heh._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat #178832399 has opened**

**UZImaki01 has entered room**

**Mhmmm has entered room**

**FanManAvenger! Has entered room**

**UZImaki01: sup**

**Mhmmm: Do you know what's on the lunch menu tomorrow?**

**FanManAvenger:…**

**Exhausted Idiot has entered room**

**Exhausted Idiot:…**

**YouthfulDude777 has entered room**

**RedAsBlood0996 has entered room**

**UZImaki01: sup.**

**RedAsBlood09666: nothing…do we have to write that stupid journal thing?**

**YouthfulDude777: It is not stupid! I started mine already. YOSH!**

**Mhmmm: Do you always talk in capitals?**

**FanManAvenger: Has he ever talked in anything but?**

**Exhausted Idiot: …good point.**

**UZImaki01: I'm bored….**

**FanManAvenger: So go do something.**

**UZImaki01: like what?**

**FanManAvenger: that's your problem…:D**

**UZImaki01: you suck…**

**FanManAvenger: you blow…**

**UZImaki01: you gurgle…**

**FanManAvenger: you…swallow!**

**RedAsBlood09666: you guys are perverts.**

**UZImaki01: like you should talk.**

**Mhmmm:…pie**

**Exhausted Idiot: what?**

**YouthfulDude777: what is your favorite flavor of ice cream?**

**UZImaki01: wtf?**

**RedAsBlood09666: ………rocky road.**

**FanManAvenger:…heh**

**Mhmmm: I don't have a favorite…**

**Exhausted Idiot: that's because you like them all.**

**UZImaki01:O…all of them?**

**Mhmmm: yes.**

**UZImaki01: even cherry Garcia? **

**FanManAvenger: if he likes all of them then he should like Cherry Garcia, imbecile.**

**UZImaki01: shut up**

**FanManAvenger: Make me.**

**Exhausted Idiot: …not this again.**

**FanManAvenger: shut up**

**UZImaki01: shut up**

**RedAsBlood09666:…I will squish you all.**

**YouthfulDude777: bye…**

**Mhmmm: ditto…mmmmmmm…pie.**

**RedAsBlood09666 has signed off.**

**7**

**Mhmmmm: I have to go eat dinner…**

**UZImaki01: it's 9:00…**

**Mhmmmm: second dinner…**

**Mhmmm has signed off.**

**Exhausted Idiot: sigh…**

**Exhausted Idiot has signed off.**

**FanManAvenger! Has signed off.**

**UZImaki01 has signed off.**

**YouthfulDude777: this is _so_ not youthful.**

**YouthfulDude777 has signed off.**

**(Chat room closed)**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Get up!" Gaara awoke that morning, like every other morning to the sound of his father's yelling.

"Don't make me come up there!"

Gaara made his bed and exited his room, to see his father standing in the stairway glaring at him, "There better not be any trouble while I'm at work." He snarled.

"…"

His father turned and left, slamming the front door as he went.

Gaara waited until the sound of the car pulling out of the driveway was gone to descend downstairs. He pulled up a stool and sat at the counter, he glanced at the clock, 6:00. He didn't need to be ready for school until 7:15.

Gaara couldn't go back to sleep anyway, slowly getting off the stool he opened the fridge, withdrawing a packet of bacon, a carton of eggs, and orange juice. He started making breakfast for Temari and Kankurou.

At about 6:20 Temari stumbled into the kitchen, yawning loudly she surveyed Gaara's handiwork and began toasting bread and loading the dishwasher. After that was done she surveyed Gaara's appearance, "Dad woke you up again didn't he?" she asked disapprovingly. Gaara nodded.

Temari clucked as she fussed over him, "You didn't have to make breakfast for us, I could have made something."

Gaara said nothing as she pushed him into a chair. "What do you want for lunch?"

"…"

"Ham it is then."

"Temari?"

"Yes?"

"The toast is going to burn."

"Crap!"

"I'll go get Kankurou." Gaara slid off the stool and slowly made his way up the stairs. Entering Kankurou's room he moved toward the lump on the bed. Padding toward the clock on the nightstand he pressed the alarm button and the room was filled with electronic shrieking.

"AHH! What the fuck!"

"…"

"Oh it's just you Gaara."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I've decided to finally start this thing._

_It's kind of corny if you ask me, Iruka's been bothering me to start. It blows when your only parent works at your school._

_But he's cool, he took me in when nobody cared, my parents died a long time ago. And I didn't have any relatives to live with and Iruka didn't have anyone either._

_So now we have each other._

_It sounds queer but…yeah._

_We can write whatever we want to write here and no one can judge us. They can't say a damn thing, because if they've read it they probably are experiencing it right now._

_That's unusually deep for me. I know everyone thinks I'm a complete and total moron. That's okay. It's my part._

_I play it well. It may sound superficial but it's true. I have no problem accepting it. I'm very macho and mature. Way, more mature than Sasuke-bastard._

_Speaking of him, he's my F.U.C.K._

_Friend_

_U_

_Can _

_Keep._

_Maybe it's not macho to remember that. But hey, he is a good friend. In his own fucked up, angsty way. He did help me with all those pranks I played on those dumbasses on the basketball team._

_Hehe._

_I know it doesn't help to provoke them. I know that I should know better. I know that if I need attention I should seek it in a healthy way._

_But it's not fair. The entire school system is based on one fundamental rule: Follow the rules._

_That's how it works. If you don't follow the rules you get punished. Then you don't do it again. It's the honor system, except for the fact that it's honor less._

_If you have the image then everything else doesn't matter._

_If you can bring your school a championship then you can do whatever the fuck you want and no one will do a damn thing to stop it._

_If you can wear a letterman jacket and have the prettiest girl on your arm you can coast through life?_

_WHAT. THE. FUCK._

_It doesn't make sense! Goddammit! They can do no wrong._

_And it's not fair. Especially to **us**. When I say us I mean the outcasts. The ones who didn't have everything handed to them on a silver platter because they can put a ball through a hoop._

_Shikamaru tells me that I shouldn't get worked up over it, it's too troublesome. Everything is too troublesome! I don't want to be like **that**._

_Shikamaru is great and I've known him since that day I forgot my lunch and Chouji shared some with me way back when in kindergarten, but I don't want to be that jaded._

_That jaded so you don't even care while people are subjected to injustices around you._

_Maybe I'm making to big of a deal out of it but whatever, it's not fair and everyone knows it. They just won't do a damn thing to change anything._

_So what if they end up with toilet paper hanging all over their houses. They could afford three more._

_I don't use violence. Then I would be sinking down to their level. And that's reaaaaally low._

_HEHEHEHEHEHEHEEHMWHAHAHHAHH!HAAH!_

_Ahem._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I can't believe I'm going to write in this stupid thing. It's retarded._

_Maybe I should stop using "I" and write a few names._

_Whatever._

_I'm supposed to divulge my darkest secrets to a school project? That's going to happen._

_Here are the names._

_Kabuto. Kankurou. Haku. Kimimaro. Kidoumaru. Lee._

_They are my friends. Maybe I should tell you my name. Great, I'm talking to a piece of paper like it's a person. I'm going insane._

_I wouldn't blame me though. For going insane. That would be great news for the rumor mill, Hyuuga Neji Totally Bonkers!_

_Oops, told you my name._

_Whatever will I do now?_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"…mmmm…pie…supermodels…more pie…supermodels and pie…mmmm…"

Kidoumaru snickered as Kurenai advanced down the rows to Kankurou's seat. Poking him sharply with her ruler, as was their routine, he awoke suddenly. "Apple! Coconut cream! Where's the blueberry?"

Kurenai jabbed him again for good measure, "Sensei! Oh, what can I help you with?" Kankurou asked, smiling sheepishly.

Kurenai was not amused, "Kankurou that's the third time this week."

"Eheehehe."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Itachi idly flipped the pages of his textbook back and forth, just to hear the crackling sound they made. Being subjected to study hall was an injustice. Especially when he didn't have anything to do.

Dismissing the urge to sigh dramatically, he systematically crammed his personal affects back into his book bag. Stealthily creeping toward a bookcase, Itachi quietly crept past the hall monitor and out of the library.

Rolling his eyes in disgust, he made a beeline toward his locker to empty the crap from his book bag. Being in the halls when no one else was, was Itachi's preferred way of transport through his school.

He disliked the triviality of idiotic high school life. Where no one really knows what the hell they're doing but they pretend to so they can avoid awkward questions.

They settle for whatever is in no matter where they stand.

Itachi found high school a waste of time. Teenage angst is overrated.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat room #557921767 has been opened**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: hi**

**RedAsBlood09666:…hi**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: do I know you?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…probably not.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…good. Is it weird that I'd rather talk to a stranger on the Internet than people I actually know?**

**RedAsBlood09666: some of the people I know…well…let's say I'd rather speak to my father for several hours than talk to them.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…that bad?**

**RedAsBlood09666: yeah**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…welcome to the club.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…welcome? I'm President.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…really? I thought I was President…**

**RedAsBlood09666: You can be Vice-President…**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: …bitch**

**RedAsBlood09666: what's our first order of business VP?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…screwdrivers for everyone.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…good plan**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…sometimes I wish I were dead.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…are you my long lost sibling from another mother?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: …sure…**

**RedAsBlood09666:…what were you saying before I interrupted you?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…I want to kill myself but then I worry if there's anything for me on the other side.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…your sn.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…you're the only one who got that.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…are you a dude?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…yeah**

**RedAsBlood09666:…me too.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…does it matter? No that's an idiotic question. Since we're so close already, gay or straight?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…er…gay.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…ditto…I would ask if I know you but that might mean actually asking for a physical description.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…thanks**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…I'll understand if you now can't stand to talk to me.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…I don't mind…my friends are weirder and blunter.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…if you have friends why are you talking to me?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…sometimes there are things you can't tell anyone.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…sometimes? I can't tell anyone anything. I'm paranoid like that.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…heh…uke or seme?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…we jump around don't we?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…answer the question**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…not sure yet…**

**RedAsBlood09666:…me neither.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…I won't judge.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…good. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…wouldn't it depend on the person?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…probably.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…found anyone yet?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…no**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…ditto.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…like anyone?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…sort of.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…does he ignore you obliviously?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…more like I've seen him everyday for the past several years and I still don't warrant a second glance. Maybe it would be better if I were a man-whore? **

**RedAsBlood09666:…which hurts more?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…heh…**

**RedAsBlood09666:…man-whoreequalsbad idea**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…is yours gay?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…I'm pretty sure…gaydar.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…sigh**

**RedAsBlood09666:…what about you?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…hasn't been doing girls…but that doesn't make him gay.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…you know what my father would tell me?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…tell me.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…stop whining you lazy fag. Get me a beer stupid. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…:P**

**END**

I've decided not to include rape in this fic.

I can't write it yet.

Summer is over dude. I haven't done anything. Must go update COAS.

Review me bitches.


	2. Deceiving Facades

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Anyone want an update for anything?

Let me know.

So, I like strange pairings…bite me.

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…Itachi/Kakashi…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…not sure about that one. Open to suggestions.

Holy shit this chapter got really long. I really should be reading my summer reading books. Aww, screw it.

**CHAPTER TWO**

**DECEIVING FAÇADE **

"Don't you think that I'm bound to react now?  
My fingers definitely turning to black now  
Maybe I'll put my live on ice  
And teach myself, maybe that'll be nice"

----The White Stripes

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Have you ever thought about therapy?" Sasuke asked Shisui darkly as they continued their daily ritual of mutual abuse.

"No."

"Oh."

Usually Itachi would come along to break it up, before too many people were traumatized. "Have you ever considered shutting up for one second?"

"…bite me."

"I would but I don't want to get rabies."

"…oh did you just get finished infecting the whole school?"

"No I believe that was you."

"Dumbass."

"Fag."

"Breeder."

"Queen."

"Can you even spell q-u-e-e-n?"

"Can you spell, "I'm going to beat you to a pulp"?"

"Would you like that verbally or on a piece of paper?"

Cue pounding fist.

End Scene.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Class, since Hayate-sensei is in the hospital for his rheumatism, we're having someone replace him. Temporarily of course, please welcome your new AP math teacher Uchiha Obito." Vice-Principal Jiraiya said as he returned to his office to read/write his porn.

Itachi began to beat himself with his textbook, "Enough of that." Obito ordered.

Itachi glared menacingly, "Today your sensei has it down that we start reviewing the sixth chapter for the test your supposed to have at one point during the year."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I despise high school._

_It is an institution designed specifically to torture and torment the human psyche. Twisting and warping it into the complete opposite of what it was before high school. I firmly believe that abolishing the need for it altogether would severely decrease the total number of teen suicides each year._

_But that's probably just me; some people are probably idiotic enough to believe that this should be happening, that the pain should be there. Just a part of growing up._

_Fuck that._

_And fuck you too. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat #5481217875 has been opened**

**Pearleyedgirl87 has entered room**

**InuBAZOOKA has entered room**

**LordOfTheFlies has entered room**

**UZImaki01 has entered room**

**Pearleyedgirl87: hi Naruto-kun.**

**UZImaki01:…sup **

**InuBAZOOKA: what are you doing here idiot?**

**LordOfTheFlies:…Hinata invited him.**

**UZImaki01:…Hinata-chan can do whatever she wants dog-breath. :P**

**InuBAZOOKA:…bite me queenie.**

**LordOfTheFlies: did you start on our math homework yet, Hinata?**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…yes**

**LordOfTheFlies:…I thought it was hard**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…can't have been that hard for you.**

**BlametheParents has entered room**

**BlametheParents:…Hinata, Hanabi tells me that she needs to use your black top so she can manically plan the downfall of one her rivals and look "tight" at the same time.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…alright Neji-niisan**

**BlametheParents:…sigh…Hanabi is reaaally disturbed.**

**BlametheParents has left room**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Writing in this journal has become too troublesome to put off for much longer, honestly my schedule is jam packed as it is. I need at least 17 hours of sleep a day._

_So troublesome._

_My mother's been on my case about some extra-curricular activities or something. Have to look good for all the universities that have been looking my way._

_Seriously though, college sounds so…what's the word? Ah, troublesome._

_I can't see myself ten years from now running a large corporation that determinedly squashes people's dreams just for the heck of it, working a very troublesome 9-5 and then coming home to my wife and my kid who's probably going to be even more fucked up than I am now._

_When I say fucked up I mean lazy._

_My, what a feat that'll be. _

_Perhaps I can find a way around this extra-curricular thing, scheming lazily is my one and only specialty._

_Feh. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"A lazy club?" Chouji asked skeptically as he pried his large lunch from the confines of his locker.

"Yep." Shikamaru said with minimal effort.

"What would you do there?" Chouji asked with mild curiosity, he wasn't the only one with a disappointing lack of things that colleges look for.

"…haven't thought it through that much." Shikamaru admitted honestly.

"Well, you'd probably have to come up with some purpose for it." Chouji said sensibly as he hefted his large backpack and slowly began walking toward his AP Home Ec. class.

"That's too troublesome." Shikamaru replied as he slumped off toward his Honors English class.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Would you be able to eat ramen there?" Naruto asked warily.

"…if you wanted to." Shikamaru shrugged carelessly.

"I'm in." Naruto said as he grinned widely.

"You would be." Sasuke pointed out drolly.

"Shut up Temee."

"No."

"I loathe you."

"The feeling is mutual."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat room #4568354577**

**SelfLoathersUnite has entered room**

**IWishIWereTheOtherTwin has entered room**

**SharkMan210 has entered room**

**SelfLoathersUnite: hey**

**IWishIWereTheOtherTwin:…hi**

**SharkMan210:…sup**

**SelfLoathersUnite:…every time we talk must you ask me that?**

**SharkMan210:…habit**

**IWishIWereTheOtherTwin:…do you like halibut?**

**SelfLoathersUnite:…that came from out of the blue Ukon**

**SharkMan210:…actually I'm more partial to bass myself.**

**SelfLoathersUnite:…I'm surrounded by morons**

**ICarryABIGSWORD has entered room**

**SelfLoathersUnite:…Zabuza which do you prefer bass or halibut?**

**IWishIWereTheOtherTwin:…Itachi if you're going to be sarcastic about it then we don't have to talk about fish.**

**ICarryABIGSWORD:…neither**

**SharkMan210:…Zabz is more of a tuna man**

**SelfLoathersUnite:…of course…my mistake**

**IceBitch778 has entered room**

**IceBitch778:…hi guys**

**SharkMan210:…hey haku, sup**

**SelfLoathersUnite:…**:)

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

The next morning when Itachi and Sasuke were getting ready for school, Sasuke was unpleasantly surprised when Obito's behemoth of a car pulled into their driveway, he and Itachi shared a look before heading outside.

Sasuke nominated Itachi to go talk to Obito about his black metal monstrosity because the little bastard knew how much Obito pissed him off. Sasuke had better lock his door at night.

"Can we help you?" Itachi asked condescendingly.

"Your mom called me and told me I should give you a ride because her car's in the shop."

Sasuke decided this was a good time to butt in, "What about Itachi's car?" he asked sneeringly.

"Auntie needs that to run errands stupid." Shisui called from the back row. Sasuke's face went from unpleasantly surprised to deathly pale to an irritated scowl.

"Riiiight and what happened to his car?"

"He just wanted to come along for the ride."

_Great_, thought Sasuke agitatedly, _another brilliant day._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Naruto was alerted to the arrival of a new day by the maniac shrieking of his devil alarm clock, Iruka had probably already gone in to work. Being a teacher and all that. But he had made Naruto breakfast, thank god for Iruka.

Naruto finally ran into school as the early bell rang, "Yees!" he exclaimed in relief, Iruka would have murderlized him if he had been late one more time.

Cheerfully making his way to his vomit orange locker, he hummed as he wrenched his textbooks out of the tiny space, when he slammed the door shut he saw Gaara leaning against his own locker.

"Holy shit!" Naruto yelped as he leapt about three feet into the air.

"What?"

"You scared the bejesus out of me!" Naruto exclaimed loudly.

"…oh."

"'sok Gaara."

"How did you do the math homework last night?"

"WE HAD MATH HOMEWORK LAST NIGHT!"

"…my ears."

"Sorry Gaara."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Alright my precious victims—er pupils time to hand in the assignment I gave you last night." Anko said maliciously as she rubbed her hands together in what seemed like an evil gesture.

Naruto began sweating profusely, _WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW!_

"Come on now, we don't have all day to dawdle people!"

Naruto could only imagine what sick and twisted punishment Anko-sensei would have in store for him, boiling in hot oil? Too oily.

Death by a thousand toothpicks? Too many dead trees. How about death by a thousand paper cuts? Oh, the blood loss.

Once the rustling of papers had stopped (Anko had impeccable hearing) she patrolled the rows to collect the assignments. Naruto began gnawing on his fingernails. He was sure that Anko would notice that he hadn't handed in his paper right away, so when so passed his seat he cried out, "WON"T YOU THINK OF THE TREES! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

Anko blinked twice, "What are you talking about Uzumaki? Could it be that you want me to grade your homework now?"

"NOOOOOOOO!"

"Uzumaki, Uzumaki, no that's Uchiha, Uzumaki, no that's it. Here it is, right next to Sabaku!" Anko exclaimed gleefully.

"Hmmm…check…check……dot…check. Lookie here Uzumaki you have a 100!" Anko declared in surprise.

"I'M SO SORR—what!" Naruto began then stopped, Sasuke snickered, and Gaara pointedly looked at his battered shoes.

_HOW THE FUCK DID I GET A FREAKING 100 WHEN I DIDN'T EVEN FREAKING DO THE FREAKING ASSIGNMENT?_

**Who cares stupid? Take it and run with it!** The voice in the back of his head commanded, so Naruto listened to that little voice and ran with it. Whatever "it" was.

"I did get them all right didn't I?" Naruto replied smugly.

Sasuke coughed under his breath, "Yup, you definitely did Uzumaki good job, keep up the good work." Anko moved on to terrorize the next row.

"Holy shit! What the fuck just happened?" Naruto mumble under his breath.

Sasuke checked to make sure Anko wasn't looking before he replied, "Moron, Gaara copied his for you."

"Huh?" Naruto replied, "You are such a fucking idiot." Sasuke muttered before turning back to his own work, Naruto turned to look at Gaara who sat two seats in front of him and was hunched over his desk scribbling frantically. _Why would Gaara copy his homework for me?_

**Because he's in LURVEEEEEE with you! **The voice spoke once more. _WHAT THE FUCK! Gaara does not like **me**. He's too smart to like meeee!_

**Maybe he isn't!**

_Hey! Don't insult Gaara you stupid voice inside my head!_

Suddenly Naruto was the subject of many odd looks, "Hehehe, did I just say that out loud?" Sasuke sniggered, Naruto took that as a 'yes', Anko returned to their row again, "Uzumaki! What are you yelling about?" she barked.

"Ermm…nothing."

"If you don't feel like sharing with the rest of the class then take it out to the hallway!" Anko said brashly. Naruto groaned but went anyway. _This bites, big time man!_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"You like Naruto don't you?" Sasuke said smugly as he Gaara got their books for their gym class, Naruto had study hall this period.

"What!" Gaara yelped, his voice going up several octaves.

"You heard me, Gaara." Sasuke said as he slammed his locker shut in satisfaction.

Gaara frowned as he followed Sasuke toward the locker room, "I do not." He insisted futilely.

"Yes you do." Sasuke returned infallibly as he unlocked his gym locker and took out his gym shorts, which by the way happened to be white, not that that is important or anything, just making an observation is all.

"What makes you think that Uchiha?" Gaara demanded defensively as he opened his own locker and pulled out his red gym shorts.

"I saw you doing Naruto's homework for him. What's next, going to bake him some brownies?" Sasuke sneered for affect.

Gaara threw a jockstrap at him.

"Gaara! That was disgusting!" Gaara ignored him and headed toward the stalls in the bathroom to change, "What did Gaara do?" he heard his brother ask as he entered the locker room.

Gym was the only class they had together. Gaara didn't hear Sasuke's reply as a mob of other guys entered the locker room and began changing simultaneously, slamming lockers and such.

By the time Gaara was done Sasuke and Kankurou were gone, presumably to the gym, Gaara followed suit, catching up to Sasuke who was making his way toward the bleachers. "I hope you don't plan to woo Naruto with your amazing jockstrap." Sasuke muttered out of the side of his mouth as they lined up for attendance.

"Oh bite me."

"I would but then Naruto would feel left out."

"Shut up."

"Perhaps I shall."

"Good."

"Perhaps I shan't."

"Pick one already." Gaara replied irritatedly.

"Sabaku and Sabaku you are running laps today!" Raidou-sensei barked, "Thank god." Gaara muttered before following Kankurou around the track. "Uchiha, Uchiha, Yakushi, and Hyuuga you're on chin-ups." Raidou said as he read from his clipboard.

Sasuke sighed, he and Itachi were always paired up, alphabetical order and all that jazz. "Hey you there stop juggling the soccer balls!" Raidou barked in the background as Sasuke began his chin-ups. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

After seven Sasuke lost his speed and his interest and continued at a slower pace, _I wonder when we start diving…_

"Hey, Neji-kun how many were we supposed to do?" Kabuto asked as he pushed his glasses further up on his nose.

"100 or until the end of the period, whichever comes first." Neji replied as he did one-handed chin-ups, Itachi despised chin-ups.

Mostly because he didn't like looking at his chin for a whole period. But this was always a good time to annoy Sasuke, tightly wound as he was. "How long do you think Mom's car will be in the shop?" he asked quietly.

Ten. Eleven. Twelve. "Huh. I don't know, why?" _Shit I lost count. Oh well, I can just pretend I finished. Heh._

"Because that's how long we have to take rides from Obito." Itachi pointed out.

"Ew." Sasuke replied automatically.

"Obito? As in Obito-sensei?" Kabuto asked curiously.

"Obito-sensei's been giving you rides?" Neji asked skeptically.

"Yes, the very same." Itachi replied.

"You're related to him?" Neji asked incredulously.

"Like Uchiha is that much of a common name; sadly yes we are related to him." Sasuke scowled at the thought.

"You know if you keep scowling your face will stay like that." Itachi pointed out as he effortlessly did his chin-ups.

"Good, then I won't have to make an effort." Sasuke replied agitatedly as he sped up to keep Itachi's pace.

Kabuto smiled, "How are you related to Obito-sensei?" he asked politely.

"He's our cousin from somewhere twice removed or something like that." Sasuke replied tersely.

"From somewhere?" Neji asked disbelievingly.

"Yes, Hyuuga from somewhere, which means I am not sure exactly how we are related." Sasuke sneered at him.

"Tone it down for once, will you Ototo?" Itachi suggested.

"Hell no, **Aniki**."

"Exactly how many Uchihas are there in this school?" Neji asked succinctly.

"Currently four, Sasuke, Shisui, Obito, and I." Itachi answered fluidly.

"Currently?"

"Next year some more cousins from **somewhere** thrice removed will be joining the ranks." Sasuke smiled viciously.

"It's like you have your own army." Neji commented.

"Like you should talk, Neji-kun you have just as many cousins, if not more." Kabuto pointed out concisely.

"The imperative thing is that they're not all going here." Neji said matter-of-factly.

"Right." Sasuke said sardonically.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"What did you have for breakfast?" Kankurou asked as he and Gaara rounded the track.

"Temari made me an omelet." Gaara said as tried to catch his breath.

"Really? I wish she'd make me an omelet." Kankurou said enviously.

"If you got up early enough she would." Gaara pointed out.

"Stuff it.

"Mine was stuffed with peppers and ham and cheese."

"You are goddamned EVIL!" Kankurou exclaimed, Gaara smiled which in turn caused Kankurou to ignore his gnawing hunger and grin in return.

"Listen, Gaara; Dad said that he would be gone for several weeks." Kankurou said somberly.

Gaara's eyes widened considerably, "Why?" he asked in a low voice.

"I don't know and frankly I don't care. I think it has something to do with his company or something, I'm just saying if you want to spend Thanksgiving break at someone else's house or something now is the time to do it." Kankurou said in a hushed tone.

"Like who?" Gaara asked irritatedly.

"I don't know, that Sasuke kid knows about Dad's "issues" doesn't he? Go stay with him or something, I'll cover for you if something comes upp; Sakon invited me to a party on Friday at his house, huge party, you could come with, it is a sleepover party though." Kankurou mused.

Gaara made a face, "You don't have to come, hey don't the Hyuugas have a party coming up?" Gaara shrugged, even though Hinata was in his math class he rarely had a chance to talk with her.

"We could go to that with Temari, she and Hinata get along well enough." Kankurou suggested cheerily.

"Whatever."

"Come on Gaara! Be a little more happy about Dad being gone for almost three months."

Gaara pasted on a smile the likes of Barbie and Ken have never seen before, "Dude, now that is just scary."

Gaara broke out into laughter, the kind of random laughter that keeps this author alive, but that's irrelevant.

"That's much better." Kankurou said as he grinned wolfishly.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat room #54678233249 has been opened**

**DeathisNoESCAPE has entered room**

**RedAsBlood09666 has entered room**

**RedAsBlood09666:…hey**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…how have you been?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…could be better.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: how are things on the love front?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…better**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…how so?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…I copied his homework for him when he forgot it.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…although I don't think he knew it was me though.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…it's the thought that counts, right?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…please don't include me in your obsession with hallmark moments.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: OI! I do not have an obsession with hallmark moments!**

**RedAsBlood09666:…right :-P **

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…you're so cruel and malicious.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…how is your crush-type thing going? ;)**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…it is not a crush…don't wink at me!**

**RedAsBlood09666:…whatever ;)**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…I talked to him in gym today.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…really, I was running laps in gym today.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…I was doing chin-ups.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…keep going. What did you talk about? ;)**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: his family.**

**RedAsBlood09666: throw me a bone here. What about his family?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…how a lot of them seem to like our school.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…were you alone? ;)**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…quit it with winking.**

**RedAsBlood09666: sorry.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…no. His brother and a friend of mine were there.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…all doing chin-ups? Sounds like an orgy.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…TT**

**RedAsBlood09666: keep going.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…don't order me around.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…we are getting way off topic here, man. ;)**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…nothing happened, he was talking about how his family invaded the school system. **

**RedAsBlood09666:** **why?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: hell if I know.**

**RedAsBlood09666: did his family really invade the school system? ;)**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…it's a figure of speech…like "chip off the old block" or "honey I wasn't cheating, I've just started wearing cheap lipstick." Or "I love you."**

**RedAsBlood09666: heh. ;)**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…STOP WINKING AT ME GODDAMNIT! &#!$!**

**RedAsBlood09666:…you got me started now I can't stop.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: **

**END**

Holy crap I still have enough juice to keep going for another hour.

But I won't.

Maybe I will later, but not now.

**tifaff7lockhart-** thanks.

**Tidal** **rabbit**- whatever floats your boat. I have ended all my chapters with a chat conversation, haven't I?

**Monkey** **Shoes**- why do you sound so surprised? And no it isn't Neji and Gaara. I would tell you but that would give it away. Whatever, any requests for the journal entries? I still have a lot of people to cover.

THANK YOU ALL THREE REVIEWERS!


	3. So Hard To Say

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Anyone want an update for anything?

Let me know.

So, I like strange pairings…bite me.

I started cracking up when I was writing Kiba's journal entry. Heheheheheheh.

I liked writing Sasuke's inner monologue. Funny.

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…Itachi/Kakashi…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…not sure about that one. Open to suggestions. I'm thinking of doing Ino/Shikamaru/Temari…but whatever works for you guys man…Kiba/Ukon?

This chapter is dedicated to **KuraResa**, who liked my writing style. :)

**CHAPTER THREE**

**SO HARD TO SAY**

"Don't want to be an American idiot

Don't want a nation under the new mania

Can you hear the sound of hysteria

The subliminal mind fuck America

Welcome to a new kind of tension

All across the alienation."

**----**Green Day

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Why did you drag me to this party, again?" Sasuke demanded as Itachi drove their father's car to Ukon and Sakon's house. "So you don't stay at home and dwell in your own morbid and mordant thoughts."

"Gee thanks, got any more 'm' words you can utilize to describe me?"

"Not at this moment no."

"Right-o."

The rest of the ride was spent in silence until they reached Naruto's house and in piled: Shikamaru, Naruto, Gaara, Kiba, Kankurou, Chouji, Hinata, and Shino. How they were able to fit all of these people in one car is a mystery we may never unravel.

But nevertheless they all made it to Ukon and Sakon's house in one piece. "Hey Gaara," Naruto called as they walked up the driveway.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for that thing with my math homework." Naruto said as he smiled nervously.

"No problem."

"Alright!" Naruto whooped in glee and Gaara couldn't help but feel a warm pressure in his chest, _he doesn't like you that way. _

**So, I can dream can't I?**

_Whatever._

When Kankurou rang the doorbell, Zaku answered the door, "Hey Kankurou, what's up?" Zaku said as he high-fived almost everyone who was standing in the doorway.

"Oi, Zaku, how about letting the people in before you slap them?" Kin suggested playfully.

"Bite me, Kin." But he stepped aside and let them in nonetheless. The house was crawling with teenagers and there was an odd fog floating down the stairs. Shikamaru eyed this all suspiciously, before following Chouji toward the snack table.

Naruto joined in a group playing poker, Itachi disappeared to go find his friends and Kiba assimilated himself with some people who were raucously watching some sports game. Sasuke wandered around the noisy house.

Eventually he wound up outside walking in the jungle like garden.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Neji found himself bored of the usual party games that his crowd played, 7 Minutes In Heaven, Pin the Tail on Asshole, Strip Poker, etc, etc. So he ignored the deafening whining that came with his departure and wandered in Ukon and Sakon's backyard.

There he found the cheeky Sasuke kid he'd been doing chin-ups with the week before, "Hey." He said eloquently as Sasuke nudged some gnarly looking lettuce with the toe of his shoe.

"Hi." Sasuke replied absently as he looked at the mutant lettuce.

"What are you doing?" Neji asked with mild curiosity as he sipped at his spiked punch.

"Is this lettuce?" Sasuke responded quickly.

"Hell if I know." Neji said as he shrugged carelessly.

"Right." Sasuke turned his dark eyes to Neji's pearl-like ones. "So what are you doing talking to me?"

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, has it really come this? _You_ talking to **me**. I mean is the world coming to an end?" Sasuke went on.

Neji blinked in perplexity, "What are you talking about?"

"Your fan girls would shit themselves if they saw us having a civil conversation." Sasuke noted as he let the alien lettuce alone and moved on to the black colored grass.

"I hate my fan girls." Neji mumbled as he gulped his punch down.

"Why? Isn't it a massive ego-boost?"

"That and a constant invasion of privacy." Neji laughed hollowly.

"Oh, so popular people have problems too." Sasuke said sardonically as he walked through the measly topiary garden, which wasn't impressive in the least.

Neji was currently battling a massive headache, and therefore wasn't equipped to deal with Sasuke's brittle personality, "What is your problem anyway?" he demanded woozily, what had Dosu spiked the punch with? Rufies?

"My problem? That implies that I only have one." Sasuke said amusedly as he stole Neji's punch and took a sip.

Neji rolled his eyes, "Come on Uchiha, you act like you've been carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders."

"So?" Sasuke said challengingly.

"It's not like anyone is forcing you to be this irritating." Neji said as he walked along Sasuke.

"Right." Sasuke said in mock comprehension.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

After winning a few rounds of poker, Naruto's attention wandered and left seeking other forms of entertainment. Eventually he made his way upstairs as nature called, after that was taken care of he found himself meandering around through the rooms.

When the hallway he was currently occupying became thick with smoke Naruto waded through the thick fog toward the end of the hallway to find a smoke machine. "the fuck?" he exclaimed to the empty smoke-filled air.

He shrugged and then went on his way, finding temporary solace in a bedroom toward the end of the hallway, sighing he took a seat on the bed and looked around at the poster adorned walls.

Abruptly there was a flushing sound and Kiba stumbled out of the bathroom, "What the? Oh, Naruto, how ya been man?" Kiba asked, his words slurring and his eyes were dilating.

"Okay." Naruto said eyeing Kiba suspiciously, "Are you alright?" he asked with mild concern as Kiba flopped onto the bed and began staring at the ceiling dejectedly.

Kiba started laughing maniacally, "You know I'll never be alright."

Naruto was starting to feel creeped out, "Kiba? What the fuck is wrong with you?" he asked apprehensively.

"You know what I think about?"

Naruto said nothing as he was too occupied with staring at Kiba incredulously, "I think that the only reason we die is because we accept it as an eventuality. I mean haven't you ever thought about immortality?"

"Are you high?" Naruto demanded firmly, more firmly than he felt because Kiba was acting seriously weird. With a capital 'w'.

"What's high? What's low? What's up? What's down?"

"Kiba you're fucking creeping me out, c'mon I'm getting you out of here." Naruto said as he tried to haul Kiba up off the bed.

"Dude, chill out and check out the pretty colors." Kiba said deliriously.

Short of pulling his blonde hair out by the roots, Naruto was at a total loss. But being the persistent bastard that he is he set out to recruit help, so when he made his way back through the fog and downstairs to the buffet table.

"Shikamaru!" he called over the loud din, "Nani?" came the faint reply from somewhere in the large crowd of people who were gyrating and grinding against each other. Naruto was overwhelmed, "No way in hell am I going into that orgy!" he said defiantly.

A hand reached out of the writhing mass of limbs and pulled him in, his blue eyes growing as wide as dinner plates. "NOOO!" he objected.

"Shut up." Gaara said darkly as he maneuvered his way through the mob of arms and legs, "Gaara?" Naruto asked bemusedly.

"Yes." He replied through clenched teeth, it was getting hard not to jump Naruto's bones as time went on, "How come you're in the middle of a giant orgy?"

"Middle? This isn't the middle. You were looking for Shikamaru weren't, you?" Gaara said as he shoved his way through the amassed bodies.

"Yeah. What do you mean this isn't the middle?" Naruto bellowed over the loud music, it was getting harder and harder to continue their conversation.

"Here we are; there's Shikamaru." Gaara said quietly, Naruto almost didn't hear him, "Hey Gaara, can you help me?"

"Help you with what?"

"I think someone drugged Kiba."

"I think he drugged himself."

"Gaara!"

"What?"

"Will you help me or not?"

"Fine."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_When my dad left us it was really hard at first. But then you adjust and you wonder why you ever needed him in the first place._

_Maybe I should start by introducing myself, since people a hundred years in the future might not want to read anonymous journals. I am Inuzuka Kiba. Obviously I go to this school otherwise you wouldn't be reading this. Unless you're a treasure hunter looking for hidden gold and found this instead._

_Let me tell you, this is no treasure._

_But that's not important, what's important is that I have to write in this journal and be truthful, that's what Kurenai-sensei stressed. Honesty is the best policy or some shit like that. Even though Kurenai-sensei can be a real bitch sometimes; she doesn't sugar-coat things much._

_She doesn't treat the student body like a bunch of bleeding morons, even though most of them might be, nor does she treat us like we're an alien species beyond comprehension. But how Kurenai teaches is irrelevant at this point._

_The only reason I started writing in this pathetic excuse for a school assignment is because that I need to say something and I don't need anyone judging me. I guess it's easier to talk when no one is listening._

_I, Inuzuka Kiba am a homosexual. I like dudes. _

_No boobs for me. Just penises. Teehee._

_There I said it, there's a reason why I'd rather write it down than say it out loud because saying it out loud means I have to acknowledge it as the truth and I'm not sure I'm ready to do that yet._

_My mother would probably act like it was her fault, which it isn't. My mom has been through enough, she doesn't need this, my sister probably wouldn't care. She's never around anyway. When dad left something changed in her, she used to be really smiley and good-natured but it's like when you stretch out a rubber band, if you stretch it too far it'll snap. _

_I'm not saying she's crazy or anything it's just, she did a complete turnaround. She never smiles anymore, it's like everyday she goes to a funeral. She's angry all the time and it's not like she tries to hide it. _

_I miss her old self, I would probably be able to tell her old-self that I was gay but I can't go back in time. Not that I want to. You could do some wicked shit to the timeline._

_So I watch the sci-fi channel. Sue me. Shino watches with me. So there!_

_I'm not sure I can trust my friends with this yet though; heck some of them might be gay! But I figure if one of them decides to come out of the closet I'll support them and slowly when everyone is used to the gay thing I'll come out myself. _

_But that might take awhile. None of them seem to be losing interest in girls anytime soon. I'm pretty sure that Shino is straight. Shino is the closest thing I call a best friend. Sure he's irritating and pompous but you can count on him to cut the crap should you need a helping hand._

_For the record: IT WAS MY IDEA TO PRANK THE JOCKS, SO THERE! Uzumaki Naruto is a stupid fuck who wouldn't know a good prank if it slid down a stripper pole for him!_

_Feh._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Meanwhile, Itachi was enthralled in a riveting game of I've Never.

"Ok, ok it's my turn, hmmmm…I've never been kissed by another dude." Zaku said as he tipped his cup toward Haku.

"What? Why are you all looking at me?" he asked defensively.

"Who should we be looking at?" Kimimaro asked succinctly.

"Right." Haku said as he resignedly sipped his cup.

Kisame, Zabuza and Itachi also drank from their cups, "Itachi you've been kissed by a dude?" Ukon asked incredulously.

"No, I was just drinking."

"Oookay."

"It's Ino's turn." Sakura announced giddily.

"Alright, …I've never…had an orgy." She paused dramatically, "Oh, c'mon you guys can't be this boring."

Itachi drank again and there were several cat-calls, "Again, just drinking." There were several disappointed groans.

"This blows." Kisame remarked mellifluously to Zabuza, who had been sleeping with his eyes open until Haku delivered a sharp jab to his ribs.

"Huh. I'm not a transvestite I swear." He mumbled drowsily, much to the amusement/shock of the collected group.

Itachi rolled his eyes and wandered away from the collection of idiots toward a much quieter room, which was illuminated by the flashing lights of a video game. Sighing Itachi turned on the lamp, which in turn caused the room's sole occupant, Kabuto to hiss in pain.

"The light…it burns." He declared.

Itachi snorted and rolled his eyes, quite a feat to be sure, "Sure, how come you're not with everybody else playing fun party games?" he asked sardonically.

"I could ask the same of you." Kabuto retorted as he resumed lavishing his attentions on the racing game he was playing.

Itachi gracefully flopped into a beanbag. "What are you playing?"

"Racing game." Kabuto replied tersely as the blue and red flashing lights displaying the words 'NEW HIGH SCORE' reflected onto Kabuto's little round glasses. Itachi found he liked little round glasses.

"Can I play?"

Kabuto fixed him with a searching look before handing him the other controller, "You're going down Uchiha."

"That's what you think." _I really like little round glasses…_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Hmmmm…pie." Kankurou mused as he perused the snacks table, "Hey Kankurou can you pass me the hot sauce?" Chouji asked, his form obscured by the large pile of food in front of him.

"Alright." Kankurou said good-naturedly, after which he continued his search for pie, "Hey Chouji?"

"Yes Kankurou?" Chouji said around a mouth full of pizza.

"Where's the pie?"

"What pie?"

"THERE'S NO PIE!"

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Temari pointedly ignored Kankurou's frantic shrieking in favor of man-hunting with Kin and Tenten, "What about that one?" she gestured toward Zabuza.

Tenten shook her head, "Too scary."

"What about Naruto?"

"Too blonde."

"I resent that."

"You resemble that."

"What about Chouji?" Kin suggested boredly.

"He eats too much." Tenten said as she twirled a lock of hair.

"Too cheerful for me." Temari said disinterestedly.

"What about Kidoumaru?"

"He pretends to be a spider!"

"Do you have something against spiders?" Kin asked firmly.

"No." Tenten replied lazily.

"What about Kisame?" Kin ventured sanguinely.

"He looks like a shark, he'd eat me." Tenten exclaimed dramatically.

"He's not that bad." Temari said half-heartedly.

"So you'd go out with him?" Tenten asked.

"Blue's not my color."

"What about Kimimaro?" Kin said lethargically.

"He's too scary."

"I second that." Temari agreed.

Kin sighed, "You guys are so picky." She said resignedly.

"What about you?" Tenten asked accusingly.

"What about me?" Kin replied.

"You're just as picky." Temari said as she brushed hair out of her face.

"I am not." Kin exclaimed childishly.

"Prove it." Temari said challengingly.

"Fine, pick someone." Kin gesticulated wildly toward the mob of people dancing and drinking.

"Sakon." Tenten said fearlessly.

Kin worked through her grimace and asked Sakon to dance with her, although it still looked like she was being jabbed with a large needle it was great fun for Temari and Tenten to watch.

"She's hopeless." Tenten remarked.

"Because she's been waiting for Zaku to notice her."

"At this rate she'll be waiting into her fifties."

"Ew, that's disgusting."

"Perish the thought." Temari replied sagely.

"It's still revolting."

"Old people need love too." Temari pointed out.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"How touching."

"Hey Temari?" Tenten ventured after a moment of relative silence.

"Yes?"

"Is your brother single?"

"Is my hearing failing or do you want my brother?" Temari asked incredulously, Tenten looked away.

"You like him!" Temari accused loudly.

"Shhh." Tenten said in vain.

"It's not like it's any of my business but if you were to get together maybe you could teach him some manners." Temari said somberly.

Tenten rolled her eyes, "C'mon, he can't be that bad."

"You've never had to eat with him." Temari said wryly.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"So, what's your favorite color?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?"

"Yeah."

"Jade green."

"Choice."

"You?"

"Blood red; Itachi says I have an unhealthy fixation with blood."

"An unhealthy fixation, huh?"

"Yep."

"Oh alright."

Silence, the crickets were already out; chirping to their hearts' content.

"Oi, Sasuke?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you gay?"

"What kind of question is that to be springing on me of all people?"

"What does that mean?"

"I barely know you and you've been chatting me up like we're long lost pals."

"I think it's the alcohol." Neji said as he stared Sasuke in the eye, his breath hot on the other boy's face.

_God, are you testing me? Isn't Hyuuga Neji supposed to be the STRAIGHTEST FREAKING GUY ON THE PLANET! Cause if you are you picked a fine time! Goddamnit! This would be sooooooooo much easier if he were ugly. Or Sakura. BUT NOO! You had to make him god's gift to gay and/or horny teenagers! Fuck it all!_

"I'm inclined to agree with you." Sasuke said dryly.

"Are you?"

"Yes?"

"You never gave me an answer." Neji persisted as he flopped down onto the grass.

"About what?"

"The gay thing."

"Oh."

"You're dodging the question again."

"Am I?"

"Yes! You are!" he exclaimed loudly.

_AHHHHH! FUCK IT! Or preferably, him…_

"Do you usually ask this many questions?" Sasuke asked conversationally.

"Do you usually answer questions with this many questions?" Neji returned.

"What?"

"Hell if I know."

In the pale, voyeuristic like of the waning moon, Sasuke was hard-pressed (or just hard) to not notice the alcohol induce flush on Neji's pale features. And it made him horny. "So, how tall are you?" Sasuke asked evasively.

"Huh."

"How tall are you?"

"…6'3…6'2, why?"

_You know what they say about tall men…teeheee. When did I become such a pervert?_

"Just curious."

"Uchiha?"

"Hai?"

"How come there are suddenly three of you?"

Sasuke felt his lips twitching, "I think it might be the booze, Hyuuga."

"Oh."

"Sasuke, if I were to, oh I don't know—kiss you, what would you do?"

"I don't know, why?"

"Just curious."

And the silence hung thick between them, until Neji, who's vision was blurring at the edges finally decided that he'd had enough of talking and that he'd show Uchiha.

Show him what exactly has yet to be determined, so Neji went with his common sense and reached out toward the Sasuke in the middle and kissed him. Hard.

_WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING HERE? AIEEEE! NEJI IS KISSING ME! Alright brain, relax, deep breaths…hey that feels goooodd._

**END**

An update for **Legacy** and **Teenage** **Wasteland** coming up…

**KuraResa-** Thank you very much.

**riikaa-** why thank you ever so much.

**tidAl rabbiT-** oh thanks. HUGS! I like being crack-ful. In fact my sister called me a big ball of crack once. I don't know why. Oh well.

**bwahaha!-** I like your penname. Heh. I do have 25 other fics to worry about.

**Tifaff7lockhart-** again thank you.

I NOW HAVE FIVE REVIEWERS! HELL YEAH. (bludgeons Inner Sakura to death)


	4. Inhibitions

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

I don't like making characters rapists. I applaud authors who can, fabulous writers that they are.

I also can't see Gaara taking so much abuse and not lashing out, so my high school AU will feature Gaara's rebellion, not-rapist Itachi, and Tayuya/Lee. Heh. Who else can say that they wrote Tayuya/Lee? I hope I'm the only one because that would ruin my special-ness. No, I'm just kidding, go write weird pairings, if any of my reviewers feel like writing an odd pairing I'd read it. Like Kiba/Sasuke. I might write that one day.

He's freaking Sabaku no Gaara!

I like crack pairings, they cause angst that causes character development.

Crack pairings abound.

Tayuya/Lee is something that can only be born in an AU. Mwhahahahahah!

List of characters whose journal entries haven't been done: Tenten, Kankurou, Temari, Haku, Kimimaro, Gaara, Zaku, Dosu, Kin, Ino, Shino, Kabuto, Kidoumaru, Sakon, Tayuya, Lee, Kabuto, Kisame, Zabuza, Sakura.

If anyone would like a journal entry to be done. Just ask.

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…Itachi/Kakashi…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…not sure about that one. Open to suggestions. I'm thinking of doing Ino/Shikamaru/Temari…but whatever works for you guys man…Kiba/Ukon? Zaku/Kin…Hinata/Shino…Eventual Ino/Chouji. Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Behold! Brief Shino/Ino because I love it!

On Neji's height, 5'2 is for when you're 13. He is now 16. Perhaps he had a growth spurt?

Kuwabara and Lee seem similar enough, right?

ChapStick is not mine.

Any Star Wars sticklers will be promptly ignored.

What should Tayuya's last name be? Hmmmm……kaze? Nope that's wind…I was thinking Niwa because I'm told the kanji for that means rust. Like her hair…no? Feel free to make a suggestion.

CHAPTER FOUR 

**INHIBITIONS**

"Nobody likes you!

I fell asleep while watching Spike TV

After drinking 10 cups of coffee

And you're still not here.

Dreaming of a song when something went wrong,

But I can't tell anyone 'cuz you're not here.

Left here alone when I should have stayed home."

----Green Day; Nobody Likes You

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

What gives people hope, I wonder. What makes them ignore the common sense shouting in their minds and believe in something that probably won't happen in a realistic point of view.

_What makes people think they know each other?_

_Is it the feeling of trust? Or is it all about personal comfort? Is it about the ease with which conversation flows? What is it?_

_What makes a person easy to forget? To forsake? To write off? What makes one person better than another? What makes one person easier to write off? Who decides what's socially acceptable and what's not? Who makes all the rules? Who would follow aforementioned rules?_

_Who decides who is cool and who isn't? _

_This journal will be the receptacle for all the questions I can't ask aloud for fear of judgement from other people. Like my brother, Sakon. _

_Sometimes Sakon gets on my nerves, how nothing affects him ever. Nothing is ever his problem. Nothing is ever his cause. And therefore nothing is ever his fault._

_He just doesn't feel for anybody but himself and occasionally me. But that's it._

_He just coasts through life and excels and succeeds and doesn't care who he steps on to get there. And people reward him for that, for being demoralizing, unscrupulous, and vicious. They've made him a king among teenagers._

_What the hell? _

_But he's not important, for once something can be about me. Only me, because when you're related to Sakon nothing you do ever matters because it will always pale in comparison to whatever he has done._

_I know he doesn't mean it to be that way, but it is. I just fade into the scenery, I hang out with Itachi, who is equally as popular but hates the attention, Kisame, who is moderately popular and doesn't give a shit either way, Zabuza, who has the disposition for loner-ness and occasionally Tayuya, who has a serious anger management problem._

_I have become sort of popular from the trickle down effect of Itachi and Kisame's popularity, but that makes me sound like a leech. In which case Zabuza can be a lech. Humor, not my forte._

_I don't want their popularity, I just want people to remember my name. I am not Sakon's brother. _

_I guess that makes me similar to Itachi's little brother in a way. And Sabaku Kankurou's little brother. And probably Sabaku Kankurou himself, as he has an older sister, Temari. Perhaps I should seek them out and find out if I'm the only one who feels as over-shadowed as they do._

_Perhaps I shouldn't._

_I like psychology. _

_I like wanting to know why people do things, what causes their problems, what makes them insane. How do you define insane? Could it be that the people who thought they were sane actually weren't? That the people locked up in the asylums are the sane ones?_

_Analyze that._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"I think you broke it."

"I broke it? Who was the one spat on it in a rage?"

"It put that bush there because I was winning."

"That's what it's supposed to do."

"Yeah, right."

"That's how you develop skills."

"It's possessed."

"How can a video game console be possessed?" Itachi asked Kabuto incredulously.

"Like that." Kabuto said as he gesticulated toward it.

"Uh-huh." Itachi said patronizingly.

Kabuto sighed and collapsed onto the floor, "So what do you want to do now?" he asked boredly.

"Well, it is midnight."

"So?"

"Ever heard of sleeping?"

"Not after 3 AM no."

"You don't go to sleep until 3 AM?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe you should get medication."

"For what?"

"Chronic idiocy."

"Very cute."

"I try."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I started this project the day after we were assigned it. I'm a conscientious worker like my progress reports say._

_But I think that report cards and mid-terms are so impersonal. Nothing about them says anything about the person behind the GPA. And that's all that matters. I personally think that is dumb._

_If the person who's supposed to be representing your prestigious school is a complete and total jerkwad, then doesn't that make the people who chose that person jerkwads too?_

_I don't usually use the word 'jerkwad' as it is mean, but Kiba-kun is encouraging me to have a more colorful vocabulary. Kiba-kun is someone I've known forever._

_Forever is a relative term._

_I've also known Shino forever as well, we've always had the same teachers, same projects, same lunch periods, etc, etc._

_In the beginning of this entry when I said I'd been writing diligently, well, I kind of lied, sure there were words on all the pages but they don't mean anything._

_I could care less if someone decided to break into my locker and trash my things because that stuff I wrote is trash. It doesn't mean anything to me. This project is supposed to be about therapy for your worst fears, right?_

_I'm writing like someone will read this and answer, I hope they don't. I need to start over and rewrite it all. It's all meaningless, everything I do, everything I say, everything I write._

_Nothing has real gravity._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"I am not short."

"Right." Gaara said patronizingly as Kiba puked into a toilet, Naruto made a face.

"I'm not." He insisted childishly.

"Whatever floats your boat." Gaara said as he rummaged around for the air freshener.

"Don't give me that, Gaara!" Naruto said.

"Now you sound like a woman." Gaara said smoothly as he jerked Kiba out of the toilet bowl as it began to flush.

"And you sound like…like…like Sasuke!" Naruto said in righteous irritation.

Gaara stopped, blinked several times and let Kiba fall into the bath tub, _Do I sound like Uchiha? Should I sound like Uchiha? Does it bother Naruto when I sound like Uchiha?_

How many more times can you say Uchiha? 

"I do not sound like him."

"Yes you do." Naruto insisted again.

"Do not."

"Do too!" Naruto exclaimed as he leant against the door, ignoring the frantic knocking coming from the other side. "Occupied!" he shouted back annoyedly.

"I do not sound like Sasuke." Gaara said slowly, chewing on the words.

"It's not so fun defending your macho visage is it?" Naruto said haughtily.

"Did you just say macho visage?" Gaara asked incredulously.

"Maybe I've been hanging out with Fuzzy-Brows too much." Naruto admitted disdainfully.

The knocking on the other side escalated to banging.

"Occupied!" Gaara and Naruto shouted back in annoyance before returning to their argument.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Another!" Tayuya demanded belligerently of the drinking game she was playing with Zaku and Dosu. Zaku slid off his chair and crawled away when Tayuya was barking for more drinks. Dosu distracted her by obscuring her vision with beer cans.

When Tayuya's sight returned she found herself alone surrounded by empty bottles and the people who'd emptied them. _What the fuck! Shitty rats, leaving a drinking game without surrendering!_

In her mental degradation of her peers she hadn't noticed the seat to her right had become occupied again, "Itai!" Lee exclaimed in surprise as he was hit in the head with a empty bottle of sake.

"Who're you?" Tayuya demanded crankily as she struggled to smash all the beer cans with her bare hands.

"I'm Rock Lee!" Lee exclaimed enthusiastically smiling his kilo-watt smile with added twinkle on his left canine.

"the fuck?" Tayuya said as she tried to avert her blinded eyes.

"Are you alright my peer?" Lee asked gallantly as Tayuya repeatedly slammed her head onto the table.

"Peachy-keen-tastic Pudding Bowl!" Tayuya said hoarsely.

"Pudding bowl? I'm ROCK LEE!" Lee repeated as he added his thumbs up for effect.

"That's effing fantastic." Tayuya replied desolately.

"It is. And so are you." Lee said encouragingly.

"What?" Tayuya demanded.

"You and I are fabulous examples of shining youth!" Lee smiled and gave her another thumbs up.

"Stick that thumb up your ass will you?"

"I am sorry that I cannot carry out your request as it goes against my honor code." Lee replied somberly.

"Huh."

"My honor code is the set of rules by which I live my youthful life, without it I would be a black void of desolate, emptiness without thought or purpose. Bringing down everyone youthful person around me so I would be able to feel better about my empty, desolate existence."

Tayuya blinked, "That's sounds like me." She mused as she vindictively used an ashtray to crush the hapless beer cans.

"Oh, no, no, no! Someone like you is nothing like the person I just vibrantly described!" Lee said quickly.

"You know what, Pudding Bowl?"

"What my glorious peer of youth?"

"You're the only person I've had a moderately violence-free conversation with in…well in a fucking long time." Tayuya said bluntly, "Where did you come from Pudding Bowl?"

"I'm ROCK LEE!"

"Pudding Bowl."

"Maybe this is a good time to further explain my honor code." Lee said as he prepared for his long spiel and as he talked, taking time to smile blindingly and thumbs up at exactly the right moments; Tayuya didn't listen to a word. "Blah blah thumbs up blah honor…fuzzy eyebrows…" is a sample of what she heard.

Instead she was transfixed by Lee's lips, _so_ round, _so_ supple, _so_ moisturized. _Might as well._ Tayuya, like Lee was a youth of action, only her actions were less likely to cause legal blindness.

"Shut up Pudding Bowl!" she barked authoritatively as she grabbed him for a kiss, which for a freakishly groomed dude with a pudding bowl haircut was surprisingly good.

"Maybe we should get to know each other first, I don't even know your last name!" Lee exclaimed as he reapplied his ChapStick.

"Maybe you don't need to know my last name." Tayuya said as she stole another kiss.

"I—umfph!" Lee exclaimed as he finally started responding to the kiss. _It would be devastatingly rude of a shining star like myself to ignore another youth's requests for my fabulous attention! I'M ROCK LEE!_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"It's dead let's eat it."

"Eww! That's disgusting Sakura!" Ino exclaimed loudly as they stood over Kiba's loudly snoring body in the bathroom

"What's going on?" Hinata said tiredly as she yawned widely.

"Your boyfriend is dead." Ino said bluntly.

"What?" Hinata asked quizzically.

Sakura pointed at the bathtub.

"He's n-not my boyfriend." Hinata insisted.

"Whatever, just make sure he's alive."

Hinata sighed and went to go fetch Shino.

She returned five minutes later with Shino who was still yawning, "Eh? Why is Kiba sleeping in the bathtub?"

"Like I know." Ino said impatiently as she furiously applied her makeup, "Just get him out of here." She said turning to face Shino.

_Holy crap!_

Shino wasn't wearing his glasses or his usual long coat. Shino had abs, "Shino, Shino, Shino." Ino said coyly.

"What?"

"I'm sorry about being so rude before. It's just I'm usually cranky before my first cup of coffee, you know how it is, don't you?"

"No, I don't."

Ino deflated slightly, "Hinata, do you think you could get his legs?" Shino asked as he hauled Kiba, who was still sleeping, out of the tub by his shoulders.

"H-Hai." Hinata said quietly as Ino watched the muscles in his shoulders ripple as they walked out.

"That sucked." Ino remarked disgustedly to Sakura.

"Why?" Sakura said dumbly.

"I think he's gay; I was totally giving him a view of my cleavage."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"What guy do you know that wouldn't love my cleavage?"

Sakura thought about it for a minute, _I know plenty._

"Forget it, don't answer that."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

The next time Itachi and Sasuke saw each other was on the drive home, "What did you do all weekend?" Itachi asked Sasuke as he stopped at red light.

Sasuke pondered for a moment, "Nothing." He said blankly.

Right and I'm a Sith lord. Sasuke looked at the dashboard and began scratching at the expensive leather interior.

"So, what did you do?" Sasuke asked sharply.

Itachi pondered for a moment, "Nothing." He said blankly.

And I'm Harry Potter! Tallyho!

There was silence for several blocks before they came across another red light, "Aniki?" Sasuke said grimly.

"Ye-es?"

"Where do babies come from?" he said with wide anime eyes.

Itachi sputtered into laughter and Sasuke smirked.

**END**

Riikaa-……yeah, I think that was addressed up there. But thanks for your review.

#4- I like your name.

KuraResa- hugs and chocolate kisses.

tidAL rabbiT-……Kankurou because Gaara is as gay as Christmas!

Bitenshi- I know, I can't do summary searches for Neji/Sasu anymore because the search bar is so specific.

Kirin Kage the Shadow Girl- But what about the other pairings? Do you love them as well?

6 REVIEWS? -


	5. Childhood's End

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

I've had another brainstorm! And Shisui/Sakon!

Mwahahahahaha!

Most of these pairings seem to be turning out in the yaoi direction. Bah.

I had another brainstorm after the previous brainstorm, and it will be explained when I decide to use it. Bwahahahah!

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…Itachi/Kakashi…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…not sure about that one. Open to suggestions. I'm thinking of doing Ino/Shikamaru/Temari…but whatever works for you guys man…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin…Hinata/Shino…Eventual Ino/Chouji. Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame!

Is it bad that my characters appear in a secluded place together to make out?

Smoking is bad…but Kiba looks cool doing it. FAH!

I love Kiba/Ukon. That's why I replaced the question marks with exclamation! marks

I don't have a pairing for Sakura. Suggestions would be helpful.

**CHAPTER FIVE **

**CHILDHOOD'S END**

"Joke me something awful like

Kisses on the necks of "just friends"

We're the kids who feel

Like dead ends.

And I want to be known for my hits,

not just my misses.

I took a shot and didn't even come close.

At trust and love and hope."

---Fall Out Boy; I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea That Says You Should Shut Your Mouth (Summer Song)

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat room #48781256218 has opened**

**DeathisNoESCAPE has entered room**

**RedAsBlood09666 has entered room**

**RedAsBlood09666:…what are you doing for Christmas?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…nothing.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…why do you ask?**

**RedAsBlood09666: Just wondering.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: you sound better.**

**RedAsBlood09666: I can't sound better if I've never spoken to you.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: nIn.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Creative, you've found a way to give me the finger.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…so where do you go to school?**

**RedAsBlood09666?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: assuming you even go to school, unless you're a 50-something year old man sitting at home in his underpants.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Chatty today aren't we?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…very funny.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…;)**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…seriously though.**

**RedAsBlood09666: well, I do go to school. And I am not a 50-something year old man sitting at home in his underpants jerking off to this conversation.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…you've given me a brilliant idea. :D**

**RedAsBlood0966: going to ignore that in favor of keeping my sanity. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…well played.**

**RedAsBlood0966: are you drunk?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…nope, just misguided. Still haven't answered my question.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…go to Konoha HS.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: shojo shock!**

**RedAsBlood09666:-P**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I am a Junior.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Sophomore.**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I have a bad feeling that coming back to school will be a headache, I am going to kill Dosu when I see him next._

_Goddamnit! I have a freaking pounding headache and we still have to have to have that stupid Christmas party. I hate it when Uncle Hiashi networks. It's fucking retarded._

_I think I won't be liking many parties since the one Ukon had, especially since I can't really remember what I was doing. I sort of remember zoning out during Spin The Bottle or whatever it was._

_I remember walking outside to Ukon's funky garden and talking to that snarky Uchiha kid, but it kind of blurs after that. I have finger shaped bruises on the back of my neck, so I'm hoping that maybe we decided to compare eye-colors? (He does have fathomless black eyes HOLY SHIT DID I JUST WRITE THAT! OH FUCK. I must erase this right now, oh fuck its pen. They are fathomless, though. SHIT!) _

_Fuck, I don't even believe that, well at least I don't have any hickeys. Does that mean I gave him hickeys? Shitslice._

_Sigh, what's worse? Being the hickey-maker or the hickey-recipient?_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I am Akimichi Chouji, I like to eat. That's about all there is to me. I don't really care what other people think about how much I eat because that's my business. _

_I'm actually not that fat, my clothes just make me look that way. My family is full of people who are tremendously fat. I don't like the word 'fat'. Even though I think being thin is overrated, some of my relatives take it to the extreme, at the expense of their health._

_I refuse to do that._

_I figure once I can't see my balls I'll lose the weight, until then I'm just chubby. I do eat healthy foods. Spinach, tomatoes, broccoli, turkey, ground chicken. Anything really, my mom doesn't want me to have hypertension when I grow up, whatever that is._

_It's still nice to know that my girth makes me unique. Who else can guard or block in sports like I do? Shikamaru sure as hell couldn't with his skinny ass._

_I can tell you at least that much._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Hinata sighed boredly as she sat in the expansive living room of the Hyuuga mansion, there was nothing to do, and none of the guests had arrived yet.

**Chat room SUCK ON THAT has been opened**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…I do know you.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…what do you want me to do about that? **

**Pearleyedgirl87 has entered room**

**RedAsBlood09666:…are you lost?**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…I'm not sure.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…then she's perfect!**

**RedAsBlood09666: ignore him, he's an idiot.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…that's the schizophrenic calling the homicidal maniac crazy, isn't it?**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…:-P**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: you can be secretary of state for our club.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…what club?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…my father hates me and rues that day that his condom broke club.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…O**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…don't scare her off dumbass.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…whatever, we will not ask questions about where you came from or what you do because that's the whole point.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…we probably all go to the same school anyway, Konoha HS that is.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…how do you figure?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…because that's usually how things work out. I'm a Sophomore, and dipshit is a Junior.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…I am a Sophomore.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…what did I tell you?**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…lol**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: doing anything later?**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…I am having a party at my house that if your theory follows, you'll be attending. You better be there.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…I think I know who you are.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…that was unusually forceful of me. O**

**RedAsBlood09666:…does that mean we have to reveal our secret identities too?**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…are you superheroes?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…**

**Pearleyedgirl87: I'm not going to ask anyone at the party about this, so you don't have to tell me anything.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…alright.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…on the off-chance that that does indeed happen, we should still chat and all just for kicks.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…since I haven't been chatting with you two until five minutes ago and I would like to get to know you, via internet of course, I second that motion.**

**RedAsBlood09666:…I guess I have to third it.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…motion passes! Secretary take note of this moment. :D**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…getting right on that. :D**

**RedAsBlood09666:…you just wanted more people to boss around. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…VP screwdrivers!**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…lol**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Gaara dejectedly tied his shoelaces as he and Kankurou prepared to drive to the Hyuuga fortress for their annual Christmas party.

"Aw, cheer up Gaara, that Uzumaki kid'll be there." Kankurou said blithely, as he lugged Gaara out the door, before pulling him into Temari's large SUV.

"Does everyone know about that?" Gaara asked crossly as he glared in Temari's direction.

"I didn't tell him anything." Temari said innocently.

"Liar." Kankurou mumbled under his breath as he buckled himself into the driver's seat. Temari looked at him sharply.

"What was that?" she demanded.

"Nothing." Kankurou said quickly as he pulled out of the driveway, "Hey, Gaara, who're we giving rides to again?" he asked nervously.

"Lee, Haku, Kimimaro, Naruto, Kabuto, Tenten, Tayuya, and Kin." Gaara recited dutifully.

"Will that many people fit in this car?"

"Probably not."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Aha! Take that you smug bastard! Yeah!" Kiba exclaimed as his character pummeled Shino's into the ground, Hinata smiled when Shino's character pulled Kiba's character's still beating heart out.

"Fatality sucks." Kiba said sorely.

"Only when you're on the receiving end." Shino said as he put down his controller.

Hinata giggled quietly and Kiba made a face at Shino before the doorbell began ringing madly; Hinata swiftly got it before the maids could.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Neji sighed moodily as he nervously gulped his non-spiked punch, really what was there to be nervous about? The Uchiha kid would probably pretend like it had never happened and they could go on not knowing each other like they had before that point.

Who was he fooling? Obviously not Hanabi, who was not so artfully hidden behind a potted plant, preparing to jump out at the exact time when Neji-niisan was feeling the most disenfranchised.

Which happened to be now, she jumped out from behind the large fern and in front of Neji, who merely looked down at her and spilled his punch in mock surprise. "Hanabi, if you ever want to really scare me you should stop trying to scare me." Neji suggested calmly.

Hanabi frowned, "You suck." She said crossly before walking off. Neji smiled slightly, deflating Hanabi's big head was one of the small things that Neji liked about life.

Then the doorbell rang and Neji's slightly better countenance went to shit.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Do we really have to go to every party of the holiday season?" Sasuke asked darkly as they pulled into the Hyuuga's winding driveway.

"Yes." Itachi replied distractedly.

"That's fucked up."

"Whatever you say ototo."

Sasuke frowned, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing is wrong with me." Itachi insisted as parked the car.

Sasuke was unmoved, "So we're back to this again, ever since we came back from Ukon's party you've been _weird_."

"Are you sure it's not your imagination?" Itachi asked bemusedly as they walked past snow drifts toward the house.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Whaddya mean you usually jog to this party?" Tayuya demanded of Lee as they drove to the party in Temari's car.

"It is good endurance training!" Lee said as he smiled widely, Tenten put on sunglasses.

"For what, catching pneumonia?" Tayuya said darkly.

"The springtime of youth!" Thumbs up. Kankurou adjusted the rearview mirror to send Lee's blinding smile back at him, temporarily shutting him up. The rest of the car sighed in relief.

"What the fuck is that?"

Temari struggled to repress a smile, maybe Lee would gain some common sense from Tayuya.

"Hey, Fuzzy-Brows! Are you dating the loudmouth over here?" Naruto demanded from where he was squished between Tenten and Gaara, who suddenly didn't feel so squished any more.

"Hey! Who are you calling Fuzzy Brows dumbass!" Tayuya demanded angrily.

"Who're you calling a dumbass!"

"You, you dumbass!"

"Tayuya-san! Picking fights is not youthful!" Lee exclaimed firmly, flashing another thumbs up, Naruto sighed, "Fuzzy-Brows! She started it!" Naruto whined.

"That is irrelevant!" Lee said preparing to launch into another lecture of youth.

Kankurou sighed and Kin tried to change the subject, "So are you and Lee going steady now?" she said cheerfully.

"Che!" Tayuya replied and looked out the window, Tenten hi-fived her.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Kiba boredly kicked his feet as he sat on Hinata's enormous leather couch, no one he really knew was here yet, sighing he decided to get something from the steaming buffet tables, bumping into Ukon as he went.

"Sorry!" he called out as he made his way toward the chips, Ukon barely had time to look up before Kiba was obscured by several hungry people.

He sighed before turning to Kisame, "What were you saying again?"

"…didn't you watch the game that was on TV last night?"

_There's always a game that's on TV, be more specific Sharky._

"The football game?" Tayuya said as she pushed her way into their circle, dragging Lee along with her.

"Yeah, that's the one." Kisame said grinning wolfishly.

"Number 29 got beat up so bad, the kuso nezumi!" Tayuya exclaimed viciously, Lee took note of the vast if expanse of ceiling, "So, Lee-san, how've you been?" Ukon asked blandly as he ignored the loud yelling that was erupting from the conversation not two feet away from him.

"Youthful, Ukon-senpai!" he said vibrantly.

"You don't have to call me senpai." Ukon said darkly as he swirled his soda in it's bright plastic cup.

"But I want to Senpai!" Thumbs up, cue blinding smile, Ukon turned to observe if Tayuya was as blinded as he was, but Tayuya was reminiscing about the brutal facets of the game without missing a beat.

"Well, Lee as funny as this conversation will sound when I write it on my blog tonight, I must go." Ukon said dryly as he sauntered off.

"NICE MEETING YOU SENPAI!"

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Kiba had finally escaped the large crowd that congregated around the buffet table and onto the balcony. He boredly kicked at a pile of snow that sat unceremoniously on the stone floor. "It's really cold out here." He remarked to himself as he fumbled for a cigarette. "I didn't know you smoked." Or not.

Kiba nearly set his nose on fire in surprise, "Oh, it's just you Senpai."

Ukon frowned, "Why does everyone keep calling me that?" he said as he took a seat next to Kiba on the stone bench, who was now trying to blow smoke rings.

"Because you are." Kiba replied distractedly.

"But it makes me feel old."

"But you're not."

"But my name is Ukon."

"Usually you're standing next to Sakon."

"No I'm not."

"Oh really? Must be my imagination then." Kiba said as he frowned at his lopsided circles.

Ukon rolled his eyes and irritatedly snatched the cig out of Kiba's frozen fingers and proceeded to blow a perfect smoke ring, "Hey!" Kiba exclaimed his mouth hanging slightly open.

Ukon snorted and placed the cigarette back in his mouth, as he turned to look at the sky, he smirked as Kiba started coughing and sputtering. "I thought you were supposed to be the nice one." Kiba said crossly as he held his throat.

"Nice? Hardly." Ukon remarked as he crossed his arms across his chest. Kiba looked at him oddly, "Did I hit a nerve?"

"No." Ukon muttered childishly.

"I think I did." Kiba persisted.

"Good for you." Ukon said supinely.

"So it bothers you? The being referred to as one entity?" Kiba pressed.

"Maybe."

"Well, in the future when you steal my cigarette on a snowy balcony at Hinata's house I'll make sure to not refer to you with any affiliation to Sakon."

Ukon felt the corner of his lips turn up, but he stole Kiba's cig again anyway.

"Do you wear lipstick?" Kiba asked suddenly changing the subject.

Ukon blew clouds of smoke out his nose, "Yeah."

"It's a nice turquoise." Kiba remarked goofily.

Ukon snorted again, "Are you drunk again?"

"What do you mean again? I wasn't anywhere near you when I was drunk at your house."

"You did collapse onto my bed." Ukon pointed out.

"That was your room."

"I believe so, yes."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"You have nice posters." Kiba remarked mutely.

"Thanks."

"You wear nice cologne."

"What?"

"Nice cologne."

"Are you saying that you smelled the bed?"

"It smelled nice for once." Ukon said defensively. "It's my bed I can smell it whenever I want."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't smell your bed, so you don't have to get so defensive."

Ukon sighed and slumped on the bench, "I'm really cold."

"Wanna another cigarette?"

"Eh."

"I'll take that as a yes." Kiba said as he lit Ukon a cigarette, Ukon was enthralled by how the cheap lighter caught the brown in Kiba's eyes.

"You know this may be the tear-inducing boredom talking but you don't look half bad up close." Ukon said around the crooked fag hanging out of his mouth.

Kiba's eyebrows went up, "Isn't there supposed to be a platoon of brawn-over-brain jocks around the corner ready to beat you up over that very homosexual statement."

"They won't beat me up." Ukon said waving his hand.

"That's comforting."

Ukon sighed, "Hey." Kiba jabbed him in the side.

"What."

"Your bed doesn't smell bad." Kiba jabbed him again, Ukon caught the hand and held it in his own.

"You're really cold." Ukon heard himself say.

"Really? Why don't you warm me up?"

"Koohai, are you hitting on me?"

"Just tryin' to clean out the closet."

Ukon sniffed, "I'm not in the closet. No one ever asked me is all."

"The lipstick was a dead giveaway."

Ukon exhaled his perfect smoke rings onto Kiba's face, "Don't be so cranky."

"Who's cranky? I'm just having a smoke." Ukon said plainly.

"Riiiight, and Ino's not mean she's just on her period…constantly."

Ukon sniggered, "Girls suck." He said dumbly letting his cigarette fall from his fingers onto the hard floor.

"Not all of them, just the ones that expect you to call them after you've slept with them."

"…"

"That was a joke."

"I knew that." Ukon couldn't quell the rush of relief that flooded through him.

"Like a girl could satisfy me."

"And a boy could?" Ukon found himself asking.

"Are you offering?"

"Would you like me to?"

"Before that, maybe we should explore the wonderful invention called the kiss."

"…"

"At this point you should kiss me." Kiba said sardonically.

"Shut up."

"Why don't you make me?"

Ukon rolled his eyes and acquiesced, when they broke apart for air Kiba ran a hand through his messy hair. "Hell yeah, that's more like it." Ukon quirked a lavender eyebrow Kiba cleared his throat awkwardly.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Shino pointedly moved away from the balcony, seeing as he'd already found Kiba but he'd been making out with someone. Shino sighed tiredly, "Shino-kun did you find him?" Hinata asked.

"No." He said quickly.

"Did you check the balcony?"

"No."

"I'll go check t-then."

"No! He's not out there Hinata-chan!" Shino said anxiously.

"H-How do you know that if you didn't check?"

"I just know, because Kiba and I are like this." He made a 'V' and pointed toward his eyes with them. _Did I just do that? IDIOT!_

"Okay." Hinata said quietly.

_I AM SUCH AN IDIOT! NOW HINATA'S GOING TO FALL IN LOVE WITH NARUTO, WHO'S PROBABY GAY ANYWAY, AND I'M GOING TO KILL KIBA!_

**END**

Tidal rabbit- mmmm…early morning crack.

Kirin Kage the Shadow Girl- of course there are things you've never heard of, unless you've heard everything.

Rikaa- oh well, there goes that, I don't know their real last names, and generally Sabaku is what is used.

Chibi-Crysti- thank you

Lala to the power of 2- I read that Kidoumaru/Ino fic! I loved it. But this fic is more cracktacular because of all the pairings. It's high school, the preferred mating territory of angst! Kabuto/Itachi can never hurt…nosebleed.


	6. Won't You Be the Lord of My Rings?

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Most of these pairings seem to be turning out in the yaoi direction. Bah.

I don't own Lord of the Rings, if I did, Sam and Frodo would be together and Legolas would be tied to a stick and drowned. Sorry, just hope that an orc will stab him repeatedly.

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…Itachi/Kakashi…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…not sure about that one. Open to suggestions. I'm thinking of doing Ino/Shikamaru/Temari…but whatever works for you guys man…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin…Hinata/Shino…Eventual Ino/Chouji. Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon!

I'm really tired.

This chapter really annoys me…

But you guys need this chapter!

SO I TYPE ON!

But I'm still really tired.

I Really Like UKON/KIBA! So, if any of my precious reviewers want to write that, I would support them, hint…hint.

**CHAPTER SIX**

**WON'T YOU BE THE LORD OF MY RINGS?**

"I thought I ran into you

Down on the street.

Then it turned out

To only be a dream.

I made a point to

Burn all the photographs.

She went away I took a different path.

I can remember the face

But I can't remember the name."

---Green Day; Whatsername

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I do believe that maybe I might have been too harsh on the establishment known as high school before. I am setting the standard too high, maybe it's not so bad after all. Did I just write that?_

_Maybe I am acting "weird" as Sasuke has been telling me constantly as of late. But Sasuke has been acting equally weird. He's been complaining less about all the parties I've dragged him to. Which really is trick to get him to spend a meager amount of time with me so he doesn't end up spending all his free time with Dad._

_Sometimes I just don't feel up for his whole 'I'm angry at the world' act, is it so bad to want a normal little brother? Or to want that little brother to like you? Or even be civil on occasion? Apparently, so._

_What a disaster that would turn out to be, eventually I hope that he'll realize that I'm only trying to help. _

_Which is wishful thinking, a lot of wishful thinking. But isn't it unhealthy to spend too much time fermenting in your own thoughts? Like I know Sasuke will when he's left to his own devices. _

_It'd help if Sasuke didn't have our father's standards breathing down his neck every time he made a decision. I know Sasuke's abhors having to listen to his degrading macho bull crap every day. _

_It bothers me too. I know I fulfilled all his demands or I would be the one he was hounding on and not Sasuke. But Sasuke's made a choice, he doesn't want to be what Dad wants, sure one day he'll be getting better grades than I am now, but he won't be captain of everything, President of everything, overall director of everything, etc, etc._

_He'll be able to decide what he wants to do without Dad shoving everything onto his plate, in an odd way that makes me proud, Sasuke was able to do what he wanted to do without having to become Daddy's little lap dog._

_At the same time, it makes me sad. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Hey." Sasuke said from behind Neji, who was chugging down soda like there was no tomorrow suddenly starting choking and sputtering at the sound of Sasuke's voice.

Sasuke smirked slightly and waved a napkin in front of Neji's face, which he took gladly in an attempt to regain his composure. "Hi." He said, his voice unusually hoarse.

"Drinking already?"

"It's just soda." Neji said defensively.

"It was a joke." Sasuke said blandly, averting his line of sight to a potted plant.

"oh."

_Just tell him that you were really trashed at Ukon's party and whatever you did you are very sorry about and want to go back to not knowing each other like it was before. _

"Look, Sasuke--" Neji started to say, but Sasuke cut him off.

"Who's that hiding behind that plant?" he asked distractedly.

"Huh?" Neji said confusedly.

"There's someone hiding behind that plant over there." Sasuke said again, gesturing with his hand, Neji finally glanced at the plant to find Hanabi crouched there once again.

Neji sighed, "That's my cousin Hanabi."

"Why is she hiding?"

"She thinks she can scare me by jumping out from behind things at random." Neji said dully.

"Right." Sasuke said.

"So Sasuke--"

"AHA!" Hanabi finally revealed her position.

Sasuke regarded her with slight interest, Neji continued on unfazed, "Sa--" this time Hanabi interrupted him, "I bet you almost had a heart attack just now." Hanabi said smugly.

"No he didn't." Neji said smoothly.

"How do you know?" Hanabi said defiantly.

"Because you don't scare anyone Hanabi." Neji said firmly.

"Like you scare anyone." Hanabi said skeptically.

"I don't have to give people heart attacks to make friends." Neji said bluntly.

"Where the hell would you have gotten that from?" Hanabi demanded.

Neji was in the process of retorting when he realized that Sasuke had disappeared. "Damnit!"

"Ooh, Neji said a bad word!"

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Shino sighed dejectedly as he hovered over the snack table, sullenly sipping at his punch, listening to the lilting sound of Hinata's stutter as she conversed with Naruto.

"Hey, Shino, what's wrong?" Chouji said cheerfully around a mouth of ham sandwich.

Shino let out a sad sigh before answering, "…nothing."

"Hinata's in love with Naruto isn't she?" Chouji said sympathetically.

Shino looked up suddenly and frowned, "I heard you mumbling maniacally to yourself, about your brilliant plan on how to murder Kiba and Naruto." Chouji said as he daintily wiped his face.

Shino sighed again, "It'll work out, man."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"—a red sun rises, blood has been spilled this night."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored the movie that was blaring on the TV currently, seeing this as a good time to talk to Sasuke, Neji sidled up to him. "Hey, Sasuke--"

"Shh. This is a good part." Sasuke said as the riders of Rohan surrounded Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli.

Neji suppressed the urge to kick Sasuke violently in the shins and waited…and waited…and waited. He remained silent until Sasuke finally got bored and wandered off. "Goddamnit!"

"NEJI SAID ANOTHER BAD WORD!"

"HANABI I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"NEJI THREATENED ME WITH BODILY HARM AGAIN!"

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Meanwhile, Itachi was actually watching the movie, until someone fell asleep on his shoulder, frowning he poked the cheek of the person who was snoring softly.

"Hey! Wake up!" he said in hushed whisper.

"I lost my speedo." Kabuto mumbled before taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes, Itachi's frowned turned upside down, "Shh, I'm trying to watch." Itachi murmured out of the side of his mouth.

"And I was trying to sleep." Kabuto mumbled as his head pitched toward his chest.

"So sleep."

"…ok." Kabuto said as he dozed off on Itachi's shoulder once more, Itachi frowned again, but couldn't find the energy to wake to grey haired boy again. He rolled his eyes and pulled Kabuto, who was still half-asleep, out of the room.

"Wha?"

"You were almost drooling on me." Itachi said as he pulled Kabuto over to an empty couch.

"…sorry." Kabuto mumbled again as he slumped down.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Couldn't sleep last night."

"At all?"

"…nope." Kabuto leaned into Itachi, who merely sighed, _this could be worse._

"Maybe you should see get some medication." Itachi suggested as Kabuto yawned loudly.

"For insomnia?"

"Yeah."

"I'm fine sleeping now."

_Apparently I have to be too; this isn't that bad though._

Itachi poked Kabuto's cheek experimentally. "Why are you so cold?"

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"…that's nice." Kabuto whispered before nestling himself closer to the source of his warmth. Itachi flushed slightly and gently tugged Kabuto's glasses off. _I hope that no yaoi fan girls decide that they need to sit on this couch_, Itachi thought blankly before brushing hair out of Kabuto's face.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke once again found himself wanting to venture outside instead of staying cooped inside, that was where Neji found him, walking around aimlessly.

"Hey!" he called trying to catch up to Sasuke, who stopped and waited.

"Hey."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Got bored."

"I was trying to talk to you before you wandered off like a child with ADD." Neji said conversationally.

"Were you?"

"Yes." Neji said through gritted teeth.

"So?" Sasuke asked challengingly.

"About Ukon's party--"

"What about it?"

"About what happened--"

"What happened?" Sasuke cut in harshly.

Neji stared at Sasuke for awhile, "Don't you remember?"

"Do you?"

"Why you do keeping interrupting me with useless questions?"

"Why, does it bother you?" Neji gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"What happened was--"

"Do you even know what happened?" Sasuke interjected again, before Neji silenced him with his hand.

"What happened at Ukon's party was a mistake!" he exclaimed loudly.

Sasuke was silent, and Neji awkwardly shifted his weight from foot to foot.

"Typical." Sasuke remarked in disgust as he began to walk back toward the house.

"What's typical?"

"You." Sasuke said angrily.

"What?"

"Playing the typical jock, once again shying away from anything that could define you as different." He said as he began walking away faster.

"What the hell is your problem!"

"Nothing! I don't have a problem! You're the one with the problem."

"And what problem would that be?"

"You're so far in the closet, you've organized your collection of Gucci shoes by color and design!"

"What!"

"If you want to play grade-A prime heterosexual specimen that's fine with me. I don't care. I can accept who I am, so just leave me alone."

Sasuke stormed off into the wintry night leaving Neji very confused and angry.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Life sucks and then you die… 

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Neji as he made his way to his locker after the completion of winter break, "Hey Neji!" Lee exclaimed as he caught up to said Hyuuga.

"Hi Lee." Neji said distractedly as he absently fiddled with his locker, "How was winter break?"

"Alright, too much time with the family though." Neji said dully as he recalled the hours spent eating with snobby cousins over stale food and equally stale conversation.

"What's that on the floor?" Lee asked, pointing.

Neji looked to the floor and his line of sight caught a plastic button, his eyes widened briefly before he began speaking nervously, "It's nothing, Lee. Hey, we better hurry or Gai-sensei will weep tears of sorrow." He said quickly as Lee dashed off toward class.

Making sure no one saw, he picked up the button that read in bright rainbow letters. 'NOBODY KNOWS I'M GAY'

**END**

Bo- thank you

KuraResa-…:)

kitsune- thanks.

The Cage Bird- So polite, arigato.

riikaa- at this point, I don't really care but thanks for the correction anyway. ;)

Lala to the power of 2- Tsunade/Shino is a refreshing break from the tedium of the non-existent Tsunade/Jiraiya stories.

Tidal rabbit- heh.


	7. Ripple

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Most of these pairings seem to be turning out in the yaoi direction. Bah.

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…Itachi/Kakashi…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…not sure about that one. Open to suggestions. I'm thinking of doing Ino/Shikamaru/Temari…but whatever works for you guys man…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin…Hinata/Shino…Eventual Ino/Chouji. Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon!

How much more angst should I subject Neji to before he should get together with Sasuke?

Fwah!

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**RIPPLE**

"So here I sit looking at the traffic lights.  
The red extinguishes the hope that the green ignites  
I want to run away I want to ditch my life  
Cause all of my mistakes keep me awake at night."

---Relient K; I So Hate Consequences

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Writing this project should be cake, some bullshit entries about the pressures of being popular, rich and handsome._

_I think the last one might be debatable. Gasp. Did, I Uchiha Shisui write that? Do I doubt myself? Am I not omniscient? Omnipotent? Aren't I a god?_

_Maybe I went slightly overboard with those last few sentences. I have a slight tendency of doing that. It's not like anyone else is supposed to read this._

_Or maybe they will and I won't know about it, ignorance is bliss._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Why do I have to make a speech?" Shikamaru drawled lazily as he and Chouji made their way toward the Biology room, where Chouji had tricked Asuma-sensei into supervising them.

"It was your idea." Chouji recited dutifully as he lugged around a large duffel bag filled with food.

"…seems like too much work now."

Chouji sighed, "But now you have something that will fool colleges into wanting to accept you." Temari said as she caught up with them.

"Are you lost?" Shikamaru asked lazily.

"No." Temari said banally as she fiddled with her skirt.

"Coming to our club meeting, then?" Chouji asked as Temari opened a door for him.

"—holy shit, Chouji how much food did you bring?" Naruto asked in awe as he poured over the contents of the bag.

"Bare essentials." Chouji said sheepishly.

"So much ramen!" Naruto exclaimed, hugging beef ramen to his chest.

"Don't have an orgasm." Sasuke said darkly.

"Like you even know what an orgasm is!"

"And of course you, Uzumaki Naruto, wanton porn star, know?"

Gaara's face twitched oddly as the insults between Naruto and Sasuke got odder and odder.

"Vietnamese drag queen." (1)

"Stop bringing Big Bird into this. Must you always include me in your obsession with Sesame Street?" (2)

"I am not obsessed with Sesame Street, you giant douche!"

"You watched it until we were in the sixth grade, you turdsandwich." (3)

"So! You're a Cartman wannabe!" (4)

"Yu-Gi-Oh aficionado!" (5)

"Super Saiyan!"

"KAMEHAMEHA cocksucker!" (6)

"Pokémon master!"

"At least I got past the Joto league!"

"So what if my Squirtle wouldn't evolve? Maybe he was happy like that!" (7)

"Sailor Scout!"

"Am not!"

"You wanted to be Sailor Uranus!"

"I thought she was a man!"

"What? The skirt didn't clue you in? Or the lesbian make out scenes with Sailor Neptune?" (8)

Temari raised her eyebrows; Chouji began arranging the sandwiches by type of meat.

Shikamaru frowned and pushed a beaker off a nearby desk, the resounding shower of glass caused silence, "Shut up. If you want to insult each other, that's great and I don't care. But settle it or leave."

Chouji scuttled over and whispered something in Shikamaru's ear, "Scratch that, we need your membership, so leave and come back."

"Clean that up!" Asuma said, obscured by a cloud of smoke in the back of the classroom.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I have pink hair and green eyes._

_I look like a freaking flower, which is fine, if you're five. Now it just looks like a cotton candy factory exploded on my head. I don't think anyone has thought of that joke yet._

_But they will. _

_Maybe this journal can be something useful to someone with hair like mine in twenty years. Then again, I'm not sure how people are born with this color hair. _

_Will people have hair like mine is twenty years?_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Currently my school life is overshadowed by the crippling guilt I feel after what I did to Sasuke._

_Which I shouldn't be feeling, because I didn't do anything wrong._

_Nope._

_It works out for the better because I'm not gay. Not even a little bit. I like girls. Like Sakura, who is very pretty and nice and has a 3.75 GPA. And the best part of all: she doesn't have a penis. Or unruly black hair that's surprisingly soft, and pale skin and dark, dark, eyes that just bore holes into you._

_Yep. Not gay at all._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Hinata knows I like her right? RIGHT? PLEASE GOD TELL ME SHE LIKES ME! Why can't she like me? I've always been there. Wherever there is, I've been there._

_But nooo, she has to absolutely like people who are GAY! Like NARUTO! Why can't she like me, HUH? _

_Shoot me, please._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Shino-kun, have you seen Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked absently as she waited for Shino to retrieve his books from his locker.

Shino's face twisted into a scowl, "No." he said darkly.

"O-okay." Hinata said quietly.

Shino said nothing as he quickly sprinted away.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_MWAHAHAHAHAHHAH!_

_I'm in a weirdly good mood. Maybe it's because I've found another gaytard like myself. Literally and figuratively._

_Things don't suck that much anymore, well they still suck but it doesn't bother me so much. Or maybe it does and I'm too stupid to realize it._

_I still have to fix the problem that is Shino's absolute refusal to talk to me without scowling and doing something angsty, like he is wont to do. _

_Honestly, how many times can you kick a locker before you break a toe? It might have something to do with the fact that Hinata thinks she likes me, which she doesn't. She is just using me as a substitute for her mixed up feelings for Naruto, who might I add is a blithering idiot._

_But at least she doesn't like someone Shikamaru because that would be exceedingly troublesome._

_Must I fix everything? But telling Hinata should do it, because then she'll go "P-pardon me?" and then I'll be like "Blah—go out with Shino—blah—you don't like me—big word—blah—Shino has eyes behind his glasses—blah." Then she'll be like "OMG—thank you—blah."_

_Now if only I could find a way to be seme…_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I have been rather remiss about this journal as of late, maybe because I've been focusing on some semblance of a_ _social life. I have a place where people understand and don't judge me._

_Ironically, I'd probably snub these people if I were to ever meet them in real life. That's what makes online chatting so interesting. Usually it'd be only me and **RedAsBlood0966** but last time we stumbled across a newbie. _

_**Pearleyedgirl87**. I'm pretty sure I know who she is, but I will not confirm it because it will completely ruin the whole point of the chat room. God I hate pretending, pretending to my friends, to my teachers, and to my family. Or lack thereof._

_Maybe one day when I finally grow a pair of balls and kill myself the people around me will notice how entirely screwed up I am._

_Or could I possibly waiting for someone else to notice how fucked up I am? How can I even explain that?_

_Let's think rationally, I am completely and totally infatuated with UCHIHA ITACHI. Why did I just capitalize his name? What next? Am I going to write Mrs. Uchiha Itachi all over my notebooks with little hearts and sparkles?_

_Kami, I really am a fairy. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat room SUCK ON THAT has been opened**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…How's everybody been?**

**RedAsBlood09666: Screw you.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…alright.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Anything exceptional shitty happen yet?**

**RedAsBlood09666: my father still hates me. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: Ditto. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Stop whining you stupid bitches. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: You're the bitch. :D**

**RedAsBlood09666: Zing. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Fuck off.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Fine, be that way.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I am that way.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Children? Do I have to give you a time-out?**

**RedAsBlood09666: Teacher! I didn't do my homework. I've been a naughty boy…punish me!**

**Pearleyedgirl87: X-X**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I think you just killed her. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: Pervert!**

**RedAsBlood09666: Prude!**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…**

**RedAsBlood09666: So you admit it!**

**Pearleyedgirl87: What's wrong with being a prude? T-T**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: You really need to ask:P**

**Pearleyedgirl87:...shut up.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Moving on…**

**RedAsBlood09666: Moving on to what? Did you finally get off your ass and do something?**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Like what?**

**RedAsBlood09666: I don't know. _Something_. Or somebody.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…oh.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…if you are quite done now?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…never.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: fuck off.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: I thought you had something to say?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Obviously I'm not going to tell you now.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…but I'm curious!**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Curiosity killed the cat. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Curiosity was framed.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Same dif. And I'm still not telling you.**

**END**

VH1's nationality for Big Bird

Belongs to Sesame Street

Belongs to South Park

See (3)

Bandai

DBZ

Bandai again.

Belongs to Sunrise and Cloverway and yes in the Japanese version I believe that there were some lesbian scenes.

Chibi Crysti- Ah…friend

Bitenshi- Cool.

Tidal rabbit- Thanks.

Deathfire1334- Well, perhaps next chapter. I also have Gaara/Naruto in my other fic Teenage Wasteland even though the predominant couple is Sasuke/Hinata.

Riikaa- ……interesting

The Caged Bird- I try to keep everything realistic.

Kumori-hime- Heh.

KuraResa- Fuzzies! I love it when you review! Yay! 2 reviews!

Foxtail-inferno- I haven't started your challenge fic…T-T


	8. Cleaning Out the Closet

**This Is How A Heart Breaks **

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

My floppy is being gay and won't let me reread chapter 7.

I think my characterization of Obito is rather bland. I can't make him like Naruto…fuck.

What the fuck.

But I did prioritize studying for my math test to write this chapter…so maybe it will be out by Saturday morning?

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…Itachi/Kakashi…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps I could stick some rape in there somewhere. Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…not sure about that one. Open to suggestions. I'm thinking of doing Ino/Shikamaru/Temari…but whatever works for you guys man…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin…Hinata/Shino…Eventual Ino/Chouji. Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon!

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

**CLEANING OUT THE CLOSET**

"Look to the stars  
Let hope burn in your eyes  
And we'll love  
And we'll hope  
And we'll die  
All to no avail  
All to no avail

This is the last time I'll abandon you  
And this is the last time I'll forget you  
I wish I could."

---Muse; Stockholm Syndrome

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I think life is encompassed by death and taxes._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Shino-kun has been acting odd lately, whenever I ask him something he starts to scowl and then he runs away. _

_Is he mad at me or something?_

_Did I do something? I've been wanting to talk to Kiba-kun about it but he keeps disappearing after class ends. I'm beginning to get worried. But Kiba-kun has seemed happier lately. _

_Are they avoiding me?_

_Why won't my friends talk to me?_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I'm beginning to suspect that this whole "going out thing" with Neji has been a ploy to make someone else jealous. _

_How very high school of him. Although on some level I should be hurt, it doesn't bother me that **much**. Perhaps it's because subconsciously I knew from the start that it wouldn't work. I have a tendency to set myself up for failure._

_Like swooning over Uchiha Sasuke in all of elementary and middle school. That was a gargantuan mistake. HUGE. Even bigger than starting the Uchiha Sasuke fan club. (That was before he became antisocial and anti-extra curricular activities) Now that you think about it, Sasuke became a social outcast as soon as we entered high school. _

_That was also the first time Ino went into Uchiha OVERLOAD. That was disturbing. Bordering on the side of traumatizing. _

_That boy showed no signs of ever wanting to be in a relationship with anyone. Ever._

_I guess he's asexual._

_Good luck to the dimwit who gets stuck dating him…_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke glared menacing at the locker which refused to relinquish its death grasp on his schoolwork.

"Come--" each word punctuated by a violent kick from Sasuke "—on--" Kick. "—you stupid--" kick. "—piece of--" Kick. "—shit."

Sasuke returned to his old standby.

"Runt! What the fuck are you doing?" Shisui asked smugly as he walked over to Sasuke.

"Mind over matter, Shisui. It's a concept your tiny mind wouldn't be able to grasp."

"I think you would be the tiny one here."

"Here we go with the height cracks again, couldn't you have gotten Itachi to write you some new insults? Or was he too busy with his new boyfriend?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I thought so. Unlike you some of us have to rely on grades to go to college, so I'm going to go now. Let's reschedule this little conversation for—I'm busy on Tuesday—never."

"You forgot your books."

"I hate you."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Neji-kun! Did you finish reading the chapters for Gai-sensei's test?" Lee asked as he jogged in place with his weighted book bag.

Neji looked up dully, "Huh? Oh that, I only got halfway through."

"I only achieved a quarter!" Lee said miserably, "I must do a thousand laps around the school—"

"Lee—"

"—carrying dumbbells—"

"—Lee—"

"—10 pound dumbbells?"

"LEE! Gai said he'd be giving a review anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"He did? Oh Gai-sensei is the most giving sensei we will ever have! Cherish these precious high school moments!" Lee's wide eyes were brimming with unshed tears.

"Lee, do me a favor?"

"Yes?"

"Go make out with Tayuya."

"Why?"

"Because it keeps you quiet."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"You're late."

"Kurenai wanted to ask about my independent study."

"Of what?"

"The psychological trauma of sexual abuse in preadolescent children."

"Touché."

"Close the door."

There was a muffled bang sound as the door was slammed shut and locked. The bangs continued as desks shifted and squeaked on the linoleum. Then abruptly all noise stopped.

And so did the world on its axis.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"We need to talk." Sakura said somberly as she leaned against the lockers.

"So talk." Neji said plainly as he groped blindly in his locker.

"Neji—I think we should stop seeing each other."

"What?"

"I think that our relationship is superficial and without meaning or point--"

"Why?"

Sakura stopped talking and leaned a little bit closer. "I think that you just asked me out because you're trying to make someone else jealous—maybe you should apologize for whatever you did to him—"

"Him? How do you know it's a him?"

"It can't be any of the girls here."

"Why?"

"Because you've known them for **_too_** long. They're too close."

"So?"

"That's why you picked me."

"Where are you getting this from?"

"It's the truth. I'm not completely blind, I know how you act. How you've been acting. And how you will continue to act if I let this stupid and ill-thought venture continue."

"What are you saying exactly?"

"I'm saying: Stop hiding in the fucking closet, you stupid queer."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Obito pinched Itachi's nose until he started gasping for air. Obito was greeted with Itachi's scowl before he moved toward the board and began erasing his erroneous calculations.

"You fell asleep."

"Gee thanks for telling me." Itachi mumbled as sunk lower in his seat.

Obito said nothing. Itachi said nothing.

Nothing.

Their contest of nothingness was interrupted when Sasuke burst in the door. "Where've you been?" he asked harshly.

"Sleeping." Obito replied smugly.

"Why?"

"Because." Itachi said defiantly as he gathered his personal affects.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Now that we've had our perfunctory awkward moment, can we go now?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"It's not like you have anything important to do, Runt." Obito said as he threw his keys into the air.

"Like you do?" Itachi asked contemptuously.

Obito seemed to think about it for a moment, Sasuke groaned.

"Obito—" Kakashi strode into the room lazily, "Are you having a clan meeting?"

"No." All three Uchihas replied incredulously.

"Right—what was I here for again? Oh yeah, Gai wants to know if you're coming for drinks tonight."

"Is he paying?"

"Pro--"

"Can you hurry up?" Sasuke demanded.

"Is that anyway to treat a sensei?"

"I'll treat you like a sensei when you start acting like one."

Itachi let his face relax into a small smirk—Sasuke could be amusing, rather than irritating—at times.

Kakashi had nothing to say in response to Sasuke—instead he turned to Obito and posed his question again. "Coming or not?"

"Go already! Itachi and I will walk."

"We--"

"When did you start making decisions?"

"When did you stop?"

"I--"

"What's with you? You seem more fussy than usual? Did baby not get to play with his favorite doll?"

"Baby? You're the one who was taking a nap."

"Oi!" Obito dragged his nails down the board, "Runt and Runty Weasel—shut the fuck up for a minute and let me think."

"I--"

"I--"

Obito brought his hand down a second time.

"Well Kakashi, I think I will join you." Obito said languidly.

Sasuke started to twitch, "But, so the kiddies don't have to walk home in the dark--"

Obito tossed the keys to Itachi.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat #49846489 has opened**

**UZImaki01 has entered room.**

**FanManAvenger! Has entered room.**

**UZImaki01: sup?**

**FanManAvenger: Nothing.**

**RedAsBlood09666 has entered room**

**UZImaki01: Hey Gaara!**

**RedAsBlood09666:…**

**UZImaki01: how come your away message is always on?**

**RedAsBlood09666:…**

**FanManAvenger:…maybe Gaara has other things to do then be annoyed by a Dobe like you.**

**UZImaki01: OI! What the fuck?**

**DeadlyPinkPetals has entered room.**

**DestinyIsDeath has entered room. **

**DeadlyPinkPetals: Hi guys!**

**UZImaki01: Sakura-chan! Sasuke's being an asshole again!**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: And you were probably being an idiot again.**

**UZImaki01: HEY! **

**RedAsBlood09666: Who's the other guy?**

**UZImaki01 has signed off.**

**RedAsBlood09666 has signed off.**

**DeadlyPinkPetals has signed off.**

**FanManAvenger: What the fuck…**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat #49846490 has opened**

**UZImaki01 has entered room.**

**DeadlyPinkPetals has entered room.**

**RedAsBlood09666 has entered room.**

**UZImaki01: Yo! What the fuck just happened?**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: We need to give Sasuke-kun some time alone…**

**RedAsBlood09666: Time alone with who?**

**DeadlyPinkPetals:…**

**UZImaki01: Sakura-chan?**

**DeadlyPinkPetals:…Sasuke-kun needs to talk to Neji for a little while.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Why?**

**DeadlyPinkPetals:…I'm not at liberty to say. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Are you matchmaking for Uchiha?**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: I guess you could say that. **

**UZImaki01: Can you speak normally Sakura-chan?**

**RedAsBlood09666: Apparently not.**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**FanManAvenger: Who is this?**

**DestinyIsDeath: Who do you think it is?**

**FanManAvenger: Can you just answer the question?**

**DestinyIsDeath: No. **

**FanManAvenger: Why are you here then?**

**DestinyIsDeath: To talk to you.**

**FanManAvenger: And you couldn't have done this in person?**

**DestinyIsDeath: No.**

**FanManAvenger: Do I know you?**

**DestinyIsDeath: Yes.**

**FanManAvenger: Are you in my grade?**

**DestinyIsDeath: No.**

**FanManAvenger: Are you a Freshman?**

**DestinyIsDeath: Pedophilic much?**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Why don't you come over?"

"Not today." Kabuto coughed.

"Kabuto-kun, you realize that is not negotiable?"

"I'm sick." Kabuto replied weakly, as he twirled the phone cord around his fingers.

"Kabuto-kun I'm beginning to think that you're going back on your word."

"N-No! I wouldn't."

"Then I can't fulfill my part of the deal." There was a hissing noise on the other end.

Kabuto coughed again, "Next week. I swear I'll come."

"You'd better." There was a muffled click as the other end hung up.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat room SUCK ON THAT has been opened**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Fcuk. **

**RedAsBlood09666: What a great way to start a conversation. **

**Pearleyedgirl87:… **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I'm having a bad day. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Do tell. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: Ditto. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I have a problem.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: I think we guessed that already, elaborate, if you please.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I think I'm being extorted. **

**RedAsBlood09666: You think?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I know I'm being extorted.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: By whom?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I think can't say. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: What do you need from us?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Advice.**

**RedAsBlood09666: What is he blackmailing you with? Scandalous pictures of you at a keg party? A video tape?**

**Pearleyedgirl87: What?**

**RedAsBlood09666: Never mind. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Not exactly. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Geez, if you didn't want to tell us you shouldn't have told us…**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Make sense please.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: He's got dirt about my family. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: The nature of this dirt ventures in which direction?**

**RedAsBlood09666: Obviously down the shady and embarrassing direction or he would tell us more…**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Be quiet. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: So he makes me do stuff for him…**

**RedAsBlood09666? **

**Pearleyedgirl87: Ditto. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: …**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Like what kind of "stuff"?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Stuff.**

**RedAsBlood09666: The way you say stuff makes me sort of nervous. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Stuff makes me nervous too.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: What do you want to do?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I've been doing stuff for him for awhile—so I know some things…I want to know if I should call his bluff. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: …**

**RedAsBlood09666: Stuff for him or stuff to him?**

**Pearleyedgirl87: What's wrong with you!**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: No comment.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: How good is what you've got on him?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Good enough. **

**RedAsBlood09666: This ambiguity is getting annoying. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: Like what he has on you?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: It's enough to get him in trouble with the law. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Then the coppers will have to know what you've been "doing for him."**

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Not necessarily. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…**

**Pearleyedgirl87: How long has it been going on?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Awhile. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Tsk. Tsk. More details. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: No.**

**DeathisNoESCAPE has left chat.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Well, there goes that.**

**Pearleyedgirl87:…sigh.**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat #7899415 has opened**

**SelfLoathersUnite has entered room.**

**OpaqueGlasses has entered room.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Hey.**

**OpaqueGlasses: Hey. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: What's up?**

**OpaqueGlasses: Nothing. I need to see you.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Why? Is something wrong?**

**OpaqueGlasses: No. I need you. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: When?**

**OpaqueGlasses: Now…**

**SelfLoathersUnite: I'm not sure I can get out…**

**OpaqueGlasses: Try. Please…I really need you.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Where?**

**OpaqueGlasses: At the pier. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: Abandoned?**

**OpaqueGlasses: Yes. **

**OpaqueGlasses has signed off. **

**END**

Tidal rabbit: Thanks.

Chibi-Crysti- Thanks.

KuraResa- Not many entries in this chapter. But plot development.

Bitenshi- Soon enough?

Lala to the power of 2- Never!

The Caged Bird- Some people have two screen names.


	9. Dispell

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Merry Fucking Christmas.

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps I could stick some rape in there somewhere. Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade… Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin…Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! New Pairing! Ino/Sakura.

**CHAPTER NINE**

**DISPELL**

"No one else is here  
And I cant get, since I'm nothing  
No one else gets high  
And I cant sleep cause I got nothing  
Feeling I am lost  
Control to a higher force

Music is my, my love

No one else is here  
And I cant get, since I'm nothing  
No one else comes clean"

---Kasabian; I. D.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Love is cliché._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Kabuto shivered in the night air as he desperately awaited Itachi's arrival, "How long have you been waiting here?" Itachi asked as he worriedly sat down on the dilapidated wood.

"Not long." Kabuto replied tiredly.

"Are you alright?" Itachi said as he brushed Kabuto's silver bangs back.

"'m fine, just a little cold."

"If you're sick then you shouldn't have come."

"No! I needed to tell you something." Kabuto said before coughing violently.

"What is it?"

"I'm not going to be in school for awhile."

"How long is "awhile"?"

"I'm not sure." Kabuto sneezed, Itachi frowned.

"Come on, we can talk in the car." Itachi said as he led Kabuto away from the harsh wind.

Kabuto wheezed, "I think you have a fever."

"I don't. Since when are you a doctor?" Kabuto demanded weakly as he allowed himself to be led into the car.

Itachi turned to ignition and cranked the heater before sitting in the backseat with Kabuto and handing him a blanket. "Didn't you know? I'm going pre-med."

"Funny." Kabuto sniffed.

"Yes, I'm also charming—did I mention that I'm a great listener? Why won't you be in school?"

"I have to do something."

"Something what?"

"Just something."

"Alright, for who?"

"My dad."

"Why?"

"Because—because I have to."

"Kabuto, don't be so obvious! Leave a little to the imagination."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Does love really transcend all barriers? Age? Gender? Race?_

_Family?_

_Is Love pain?_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**FanManAvenger: So, how have you been?**

**DestinyIsDeath: Given up?**

**FanManAvenger: Perhaps. **

**DestinyIsDeath: Fine. You? **

**FanManAvenger: Bored. **

**DestinyIsDeath: Interesting. **

**FanManAvenger: Are you a girl?**

**DestinyIsDeath: No.**

**FanManAvenger: Are you straight?**

**DestinyIsDeath: ….**

**FanManAvenger: Suddenly shy?**

**DestinyIsDeath: No.**

**FanManAvenger: I can take that as an answer for the former?**

**DestinyIsDeath: Fine. **

**FanManAvenger: Cool.**

**DestinyIsDeath: No mental breakdown?**

**FanManAvenger: I wouldn't have asked if I there was a chance I freaked out. **

**DestinyIsDeath: How very self-serving. **

**FanManAvenger: So you don't know me that well.**

**DestinyIsDeath: …**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"I'm bored." Naruto announced—twenty seconds into their trip to the music store.

"No one told you to come, Dobe." Sasuke remarked boredly as he studied LP's. Gaara was enthralled in a poster by the far wall of the deserted store. Naruto shuffled over to him.

"Gaara—let's go for ramen!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

Gaara barely bat an eyelash—"What about Uchiha?"

"Sasuke's a dumbass anyway." Naruto said, stifling a large yawn.

Gaara sighed, "What kind of ramen do you want?"

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_If you kiss a girl? Does it make you a lesbian? _

_I mean baking one cake doesn't make you a baker. Painting one picture doesn't make you a painter. Kicking one goal doesn't make you a footballer. _

_One kiss?_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I like someone. A lot. But I'm not sure if she feels the same way. _

_This sucks monkey balls. _

_I don't like crushes—they interfere with my grades. This isn't even a crush—more like an infatuation. A strong infatuation. An infatuation with a huge rack and legs that go on for days. _

_Goddamnit. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

The thumping sounds were starting again; punctuated by angry banging and echoing sounds. Then there was a hollow screech, chalk was being crushed into a fine lime powder.

Soon afterwards there was a popping sound as one—two—three—and finally four buttons were ripped off.

A metal legged chair made a screeching noise as far past its allotted weight was pressed down upon it. Metallic squeaks were emitting from a belt buckle colliding with an abused leg. Hissing soon followed—as nails were being dragged across pale skin.

The sound of an open wound is a quiet one.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I'm in a lot of pain right now—mostly physical pain. I don't think I can move my jaw. So talking might be optional for a little while—I'm lucky my eyes didn't swell up this time or I wouldn't be able to write this entry. _

_There is a sizeable bruise on my left hip, but cutting gym for a few weeks doesn't really hurt my GPA anyway. I hope my wrists don't bruise again—I got a few weird looks with all the bandages covering them up. _

_I looked like a cutter. _

_Oh well—better than telling people what really happens to me when I disappear for a few days. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I find myself in quite a quandary—two people both of which are close to me in different ways._

_But I'm hiding from both of them. _

_It doesn't make sense. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"What do you want Shisui?" Sasuke demanded sourly as he tried to escape from the ever present form of his elder cousin.

"I have to have a reason to walk you home."

"You have to have a reason when you show anything besides violence towards me."

"Hey!"

Sasuke yawned and continued walking, "Where's your ferrety brother today?"

"Somewhere—it's not like I'm his keeper or anything." Sasuke began walking faster. Shisui kept pace.

"I see you don't get the hint, fuck off." Sasuke said annoyedly.

Sasuke sighed loudly when Shisui had not followed his advice, "What do you want?" he demanded belligerently.

Shisui coughed and cleared his throat several times before mumbling inaudibly, Sasuke heard: "I heed um smelp."

"What?" Sasuke said belligerently.

"Want to go for coffee?" Shisui asked suddenly.

Sasuke sent him a blank look.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Once they were seated in a rather private booth, situated with pretentious coffee, Shisui decided to speak again.

"So, how's your life?"

Sasuke glared at his elder cousin over the rim of his grande blah-blah-blah.

"You're not seriously going to do this for another fifteen minutes are you?" Sasuke asked vehemently.

Shisui cleared his throat awkwardly, Sasuke took a large gulp of his drink and that's when Shisui decided to drop his bomb.

"I'm gay." He said suddenly, causing Sasuke gag on his coffee and spat it out.

Shisui patiently handed him 100 percent recycled paper-napkins and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"You couldn't have waited until I'd already swallowed, could you?" Sasuke hacked and coughed.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Shisui said edgily.

"No." Sasuke said bluntly.

"Why not?" Shisui exclaimed in irritation.

"I've know forever."

"What!" Shisui yelped, unnerved.

"Yes, shocking, I've known since the first time you dumped sand on my head and then pantsed me."

"You were eight."

"I was a very insightful child."

"I'm serious."

"As am I."

Shisui just stared at his younger relative, who stared back—those Uchihas.

"Anyway, now that you're technically "out" what're you going to do next?" Sasuke asked idly.

"What?"

"Obviously, you want me to do something for you—or you wouldn't have told me first—unless you already told Itachi which wouldn't make sense because then he would be fixing your problem."

Shisui cursed his cousin's intuitiveness, "I need your help."

"I figured that out already, Genius."

"Right." Shisui said eloquently.

"So Queer Boy, name your favor."

"Don't call me that."

"Why does it offend you? Fairy Wings."

"Shut up."

"Seriously, what do you really want? Do you like someone or something?" Sasuke said blankly, leaning his head on his palm.

Shisui flushed slightly, Sasuke just stared at him.

"You have to communicate these things you know, or I won't be able to help you and mock you at the same time." Sasuke quipped tartly.

He still remained silent.

"Maybe you should have asked Obito with this, he seems to have had a lot of experience with mutes. He's also slept with everything that moves."

More silence.

"It's sad when I'm the most talkative person in a conversation."

"I like Sakon."

"I'm sorry?" Sasuke said boredly.

"Sakon."

"Interesting, you've picked the most sadistic and cruel jock KHS has ever seen—aside from Orochimaru-sensei of course. Are you into masochism?"

"What? No."

"Then why did you pick him?"

"I didn't pick him! It's happened that way."

"Right, so have you spoken with each other yet?"

"What?"

"Right, I'm talking to you let me rephrase, have you pushed him up against a locker and demanded lunch money, yet?"

"I don't do that."

"You used to."

"Only to you."

"I'm touched."

"That's nice."

"So if you like him, do you know if he plays for our team?"

"Our?"

"Oops."

"…"

"Does he?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe you should find out."

"Is that my homework?"

"Good plan."

"Huh."

"Uke or seme?"

"What?"

"You heard me, are you uke or seme?"

"I hadn't thought about it yet."

"Yes you have, you just don't want to admit it, probably because you want to be his uke, and feel his penis inside you."

"What! I'm sorry?"

"Don't be, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Of course not—so I guess I can live vicariously through you—but not as a uke."

"I am not going to be a uke!"

"I don't think the people in Beijing heard you. But it's nice that you have that determination, he might not agree though."

"What do you mean?"

"Shisui, why are you such a straight homo?"

**END**

Lala to the power of 2- You reviewed first I believe, my immortality is just another fact of life. The point of the screen names is to be general so I can keep it a mystery until the end.

Icydragon14- Thanks.

Chibi-Crysti- well you might have to bear with me for a little while longer while I establish character development and all that jazz.

KuraResa-Yay, your reviews always make me feel like a good writer. Happy Valentine's, Easter, Ides of March, St. Patrick's Day, and all to you.

Puffyangel-sasuke- No, I don't think he does, elaborate further and I can answer you for sure.

Rivalovery- She is. I wish my Lit. class would do something like that.

YoungSasuke- That's okay—stick with me till the end!

SatanStoleMyThrone- Well, I'm not so good with this writing soon thing.

The Caged Bird- Another reviewer I dearly love.

xxFissshBonesssXx- Wow, I feel honored. Squeals like a mindless fangirl. I will try with the smut but I've never done a lemon before. So bear with us.

TemariShikamarulov3r161616- Thank you, I like writing pairings no one has ever done before.

Taiy-Chan- Thanks for the rabid reviewing, it makes my heart sing.

Holy Shit—this story is getting popular.


	10. I Could Get Used To This

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

We've hit double digits!

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps I could stick some rape in there somewhere. Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade… Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin…Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! New Pairing! Ino/Sakura.

**CHAPTER TEN**

**I COULD GET USED TO THIS**

"And I am flawed  
But I am cleaning up so well  
I am seeing in me now the things you swore you saw yourself

So clear  
Like the diamond in your ring  
Cut to mirror your intentions  
Oversized and overwhelmed  
The shine of which has caught my eye  
And rendered me so isolated, so motivated  
I am certain now that"

---Dashboard Confessional; Vindicated

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Secrets are burdens that are easier to bear with help._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat 43787438473**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: Hey.**

**BlondeBombshell: Hey.**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: Want to hang out?**

**BlondeBombshell: I'm busy.**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: With what?**

**BlondeBombshell: Stuff.**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: Why are you being like this? I'm your best friend. **

**BlondeBombshell: That's all you'll ever be.**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: What is that supposed to mean?**

**BlondeBombshell: You know what it means, Sakura!**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: No, Ino, it seems like I don't, so why don't you explain it to me. **

**BlondeBombshell:…**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: What, suddenly shy?**

**BlondeBombshell:…**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: What happened to all your courage Ino? Did it disappear because people have a chance to see who you actually are?**

**_BlondeBombshell has signed off._**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"So what you want to do is start a conversation--" Itachi paused on his way to his own room and stopped at Sasuke's door.

"—no, Stupid, that's not a good idea--" Itachi quirked an eyebrow.

"—what do you want him to hate you? That's where you're going now--"

"—hey, didn't I tell you that Obito would have been a better choice--"

"—yes, no, fuck no, really--"

"—yeah, sure, you're going to be seme whenever you want because your relationship won't be ruled by sex--" Itachi's eyebrows rose considerably.

Sasuke snapped his phone shut when Itachi knocked on his door.

"Come in!" He called as he returned to his computer screen.

"Sasuke." Itachi said upon entering.

Sasuke cringed inwardly; this was going to be one of _those_ discussions.

"Yes?"

"What were you doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"Masturbating?" Sasuke said hopefully.

"Nice try, Moron."

"Writing my memoirs?"

"Idiot."

"Masturbating?"

"You said that already, cut the crap, what were you talking about and why were you talking about it?"

"What do you mean what was I talking about?"

"Sasuke."

"Itachi."

"Don't make me bring Mom in."

"Why would you bring Mom in?"

"Stop answering me with questions."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"—and this is why we should meet face to face so I can yell at you." Sasuke concluded.

Shisui gave him a blank look, "Wait, so you haven't had the sex talk yet?"

Sasuke scowled, "I have—just not from my illustrious and altruistic brother."

"He gave you a sex talk?"

"Yes."

"Because he heard our conversation?"

"Yes."

"You talk too loud."

"What?"

"If you hadn't been freaking out about your obvious uke-ness--"

"Goddamnit I am not a uke!"

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"What's so great about this party?" Gaara asked—in his usual monotone as they entered Ukon/Sakon's house.

"We need a reason to be at a party?" Naruto asked blankly.

"Right," Gaara replied. "Where's Uchiha?"

"Oh—Temee said that Shisui was giving him a ride." Gaara frowned slightly.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"What do we do if he approaches you?" Sasuke drilled boredly as he waited for Shisui to pull up into the large winding drive.

"Act like normal."

"No, act like you have a soul."

"Shut up."

"What do we do if he slips a rufie into your drink?"

"What?" Shisui almost ran over a squirrel.

"It's a reasonable question." Sasuke said wanly.

Shisui stared blankly back at his cousin until loud screeching honks revived him.

"Fine—what do you do if he gets drunk?"

"Force him to sign a contract that makes me seme."

"Very good Young Skywalker."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Hinata fumbled with her shirt nervously, "K-Kiba-kun!" she called out as she spotted her friend's wild head of hair.

"Hinata-chan!" Kiba exclaimed before tackling her in a bear hug. "

"What's up?"

"S-Shino-kun won't return my phone calls." Hinata said—almost tearfully.

Kiba's face sobered, "Well, there's a very simple reason for that."

"What?"

"Well—you know all those times you—like confided in him about like feelings and such?"

"Y-Yes?"

"Well—he was only listening because he wanted some."

"…"

"I mean—like all those you were like—"I like Naruto-kun!"—or "I like Kiba-kun because he's a sexy beast!"—he was thinking "Do I have to be a gay guy to get her to notice me? Why can't she like me? I'm not gay—I like her—a lot." Kiba explained, his voice getting high for Hinata and Shino's parts.

"Huh?"

"Come to my bosom." Kiba said as he patted her head patronizingly.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"_--say it ain't so, my love is a heartbreaker—" _

"Oi! Temee!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically over the loud music.

"What?" Sasuke asked mutely.

"How come you didn't need a ride?"

"Shisui gave me one."

"Oh? Really—hehohoehoheeehhooho!" Naruto leaned onto his shoulder limply.

"Are you drunk already?" he asked incredulously.

"Nyah—"

"There you are." Gaara said—the slight emotion in his voice belying his worry.

"Gaara!" Naruto exclaimed childishly, his cheeks alive with the flush of cheap booze.

"Here—you take of that, I need to see something." Sasuke said—pushing Naruto toward Gaara.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Calmly Sasuke made his way over to the refreshment table that lined the far wall of the living room; he was close enough to make out the distinct hum of conversation.

"—that game against Suna will be tough--"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "—their defense could use some work though—"

Leave it to Shisui to use sports as a come-on.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Kabuto didn't even know why he was at that party—especially since he was in no condition to be out in public.

But he _had_ to get out of the house—he could stay cooped up there in his self-imposed (temporary) exile. Besides, there was free alcohol.

Alas, Kabuto's vision of knocking back a few, or a few dozen was sadly destroyed Itachi spotted him and began making his way over.

Fortunately, Kabuto was a Jedi-master of quick-thinking evasive tactics and so he launched himself into the bathroom.

He let his breathing slow when he heard the satisfying click of the lock—it was then that he realized that he was not alone. Slowly, he turned around to see a pair of leaf green eyes staring back at him.

Kabuto blinked.

Sakura blinked.

Everyone blinked.

"So who're you hiding from?" Sakura asked succinctly as she reapplied her eyeliner.

"Who're you hiding from?"

"C'mon—I mean I'm a girl I allowed to stay in the bathroom for this long, but judging from the projectile way you threw yourself in here you have to be running from something—or you have the trots."

Kabuto snorted, "Fine—maybe I am hiding from someone."

"Itachi?"

Kabuto raised an eyebrow, "Please! I am the unofficial Uchiha expert—I know everything." Sakura said boredly.

"Expert? More like stalker."

"Hey! I haven't stalked any one since freshman year."

"Interesting."

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Why should I?"

"Fine—I'll tell you who I'm hiding from."

"I thought it was normal for a girl to stay in the bathroom for an indefinite period of time."

"I lied—I'm hiding from Ino."

"Why, are you wearing the same shirt?"

"Funny, I didn't know you could be funny."

"Not one of my most prized traits."

"Spill?"

"Spill what?"

"Geez—talking to Gaara is more productive."

**END**

Taiy-chan-Updating is not one of my best habits.

Chibi-Crysti- Really? I didn't think it was that much different from the others, but then again all my stories run together like a strand of mismatched pearls. I love that you would bear with me through anything. WOOT! I think people liked the Shisui/Sasuke interaction in this chapter, I had a lot of fun writing it.

Tidal-rabbit- Yeah, well canon Sasuke also has giant hands sprouting out his back—so I'm not sure he's that great.

The Caged Bird- It's the thought that counts. 3

Silverdragon87- Yo!

Rivalovery- I just got your penname. Do you write fiction? I would like to read some.

Rabidbutterfly- Liek—woah.

Blue ½- YES! 3

Dodo-chan- Dude, that whole was two sentences, you write like George Elliot man. Like the dodos from Ice Age, who were ninja dodos, who attacked with their food supply? Bring it—wateshi wa shinobi bitch.

Sorry for the Star Wars references, I'm just a super nerd at heart.


	11. All The Small Things

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Squee!

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps I could stick some rape in there somewhere. Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara…Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade… Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin…Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! Ino/Sakura.

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

**ALL THE SMALL THINGS**

"I am a hostage to my own humanity  
Self detained and forced to live in this mess I've made  
And all I'm asking is for You to do what You can with me  
But I can't ask You to give what You already gave

Cause I've been housing all this doubt and insecurity and  
I've been locked inside that house all the while you hold the key  
And I've been dying to get out and that might be the death of me  
And even though, there's no way in knowing where to go, promise I'm going because  
I've got to get out of here  
I'm stuck inside this rut that I fell into by mistake  
I've got to get out of here  
And I'm begging You, I'm begging You, I'm begging  
You to be my escape."

---Relient K; Be My Escape

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Shisui paused from his conversation with Sakon to pick up his cell, "Yes?"

"You're choking!"

"I'm not choking!" Shisui insisted as he edged away from the object of his affections, "Where are you?"

Sasuke inched behind the large (spiked) punch bowl, "Stop acting like a woman you Fag." Shisui was then hung up on as Sasuke made his way upstairs.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Narrowly escaping the many comatose bodies strewn across the floor, Sasuke picked his way toward the bedrooms fortunately picking the one without a Kiba clutching Hinata to his chest.

Noting the lack of posters or clothes in the closet, Sasuke safely assumed that this was guest room, a guest room with a huge balcony.

Boredly he walked through the, ajar, glass doors.

"—I guess irritating him online isn't enough to warrant a conversation in real life—" Neji sighed to empty (or not) air, Sasuke stopped and back tracked.

"—being closeted sucks."

Sasuke frowned and back tracked faster. But doing this made him collide with a shrub, which attracted Neji's attention. The Uchiha, who looked rather indignant trapped in a green shrub, bristled and struggled with the thorny branches.

Neji blinked and assisted the younger boy, pulling him from the clutches of evil vegetation; Sasuke was glad to be free of the plant but would rather be free of Neji.

"How much did you hear?" Neji asked resignedly as Sasuke briskly brushed himself off.

The black haired boy turned to leave but Neji held firm on his already ripped sleeve. "How much did you hear?"

Sasuke turned away, Neji frowned.

"Look at me." Neji turned Sasuke's chin so he could stare into cold black eyes.

"Why won't you let me talk to you?"

"You seemed to be very chatty online, when you didn't have to see me face to face and look into my eyes."

"You're the one who seems to have trouble looking at people when they're speaking to you."

Sasuke scowled violently, but steadfastly refused to look Neji in the eyes.

"You're being a tad unreasonable, aren't you?"

"Unreasonable, how?" Sasuke ground out.

"I am making an effort—to make up for what I did. Maybe talking to you anonymously wasn't the best of ideas but I tried! You on the other hand, just want to stay angry at me for no good reason!"

"No good reason? What's going to come of us "making up"? Aren't you just going to make more excuses? How do I know you won't do it again? No, let me be unreasonably angry and we can both go back to hiding in our respective cliques."

"Cliques? As if, aren't you the one who's always campaigning for individual thought? Now you want to run and hide because this is something you've never had to deal with before?"

"I do not want to run and hide. In fact, I never run and hide."

"Really? What are you doing now?"

"Self-preservation, and how do you know so much about this sort of thing, anyway, huh? Are you saying you've had experience?"

"No."

"Then how do you know what you're doing?"

"I don't, maybe that's the problem. I'm sorry I didn't have a positive homosexual role model in my life, to tell me what to do and how do it. But at least I'm here."

Sasuke frowned, "So? Now that you're here, what are you going do, Hyuuga?"

"I didn't think you'd let me get this far."

"So what? You're just flying blind?"

"Not completely." Neji replied as he began to lean in slowly for what he hoped would be a kiss instead of the expected punch to the face.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Uchiha Itachi was not having the same luck with men his cousin and younger brother were, in fact, his luck seemed to take a turn for the worst as he'd somehow made a wrong turn and ended up in the dying garden.

He sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his dark bangs, "This is getting ridiculous." He muttered to himself as he leant against a barren stone fountain.

"It shouldn't be this hard to find one person, should it?" Itachi continued muttering to himself, as he slumped behind the cold stone.

"Itachi-kun?" Ino asked quizzically.

Itachi made no move, "Yes, Ino?"

"What're you doing out here?"

"I got slightly lost."

"Slightly? Were you looking for something?" Ino said as she plopped down on the ground beside him, drink in a manicured hand.

"Actually I was looking for someone." Itachi said irritatedly.

"Is that someone that dying rosebush over there?"

"No."

"Then you got really lost."

"What are you doing here?"

"It smells in there."

"Are you sure it's not just your upper lip?"

"Funny."

"One of my better traits, I'm told."

Ino sighed forlornly and at that Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"What's your damage?"

Ino sighed again, before turning to look at Itachi, "You're gay right?"

"What?"

"You're gay." Ino said oddly.

"How do you know that?"

"I just do—okay, so being gay is hard, right?"

"I'm not sure what you're trying to ask me."

"Yeah, it's hard—people will judge you and made up things about you and not be friends with you anymore because you're gay." Ino kept on.

"Ino?"

"And because they were too stupid to realize it they hate you; because you've changed and that's not the person they wanted to be friends with in the first place and people say it's a lifestyle choice. Then you can't get married or have children or adopt because that's not what God wanted and--"

"Ino, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, I'm just saying." Ino said, staring at her painted toes.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Is love forged in pain? Is it pain? _

_Does it transcend all? Is love that stabbing pain in your heart?_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**RedAsBlood09666: Have you heard from him lately?**

**Pearleyedgirl87: He hasn't been online for awhile.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Hasn't been on the chat for awhile.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: It's troublesome, wasn't the point of this chat so he could have an outlet?**

**RedAsBlood09666: I don't know what the point of this was, we just happened across each other and then you showed up.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Do you think he did it?**

**RedAsBlood09666: It's a possibility. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: It's not a possibility, it can't be.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Why not? We can't help him. We're just names on a computer screen.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: We can help! We do know each other. **

**RedAsBlood09666: No, in real life this wouldn't work. In real life we wouldn't care.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: How do you know? I would care. **

**RedAsBlood09666: You say that now, but in school we'd just be in our own groups.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Fine, here's a show of faith for you.**

_**Pearleyedgirl87 your last message to RedAsBlood09666 was blocked.**_

**Pearleyedgirl87: How could you do that! We're trying to help him.**

**RedAsBlood09666: He doesn't want our help! This isn't school! This is the internet, we don't even know if he exists. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: This is the real world! C'mon! You're just SCARED! I don't care about your views or your stupid real world politics, this is someone's life that's in jeopardy here!**

**RedAsBlood09666: It defeats the purpose of why this thing started. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: This thing isn't achieving its purpose, I don't care anymore what people think about me, about this, or about anything I do. Tomorrow at school I'll be wearing a neon blue studded belt. Come and find me. **

**_Pearleydgirl87 has signed off_ **

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I've been unusually diligent in keeping this retarded project, diligent is a word from my word-of-the-day toilet paper._

_I got that for Christmas from Gaara._

_Gaara is actually the reason why a lot of things go smoothly in my life, I never noticed it before though. Is it because I'm really dense? How could I have been so dense not to notice the one thing that should have been the most obvious?_

_How idiotic can I be?_

_I mean everyone else saw it, why am I so stupid?_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_It hurts, it burns, it stings._

_Not just my hurts, burns, and stings, though. Everything else just pulses with pain. I despise it—I despise my weakness for being incapable of stopping it. _

_An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. _

**end**

Wow, a lot of people have picked up this fic, and as always I apologize for the wait but I just don't have the drive or the time to do things like a I used to.

I love all my reviewers.

Ninjas will fuck your shit up.

Tidal rabbit- do I win at life?

JakotsuGlomper- I thank you.

Silverdragon87- …:D

Rabidbutterfly- Kiba is a sexy beast.

Chibi-Crysti- Cuz nothing really happened.

Dodo-chan- Yes, I agree. Ninja will fuck your shit up.

Taiy-Chan- I doubt it.

Jamz- But then your ass would have a line where you were sitting on the edge of a chair for three months while I updated.

Nanogirl- I think you may be the inverted me—you are a yuri fangirl where I stick to Yaoi!

Orochimaru's Biznatch- Oro's biznatch, hmmm—that would make you Jiraiya! Hop!


	12. It Ends Tonight

**This Is How A Heart Breaks**

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Pairings:…Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…perhaps I could stick some rape in there somewhere. Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin… Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! Ino/Sakura.

The readers get to know who were anonymously humping chapters 8 and 9.

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

**IT ENDS TONIGHT**

"Your subtleties  
They strangle me  
I can't explain myself at all.  
And all the wants  
And all the needs  
All I don't want to need at all.

The walls start breathing  
My mind's unweaving  
Maybe it's best you leave me alone.  
A weight is lifted  
On this evening  
I give the final blow."

---The All-American Rejects; It Ends Tonight

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke's mind was having trouble computing his need to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, finally after minutes of sucking face with Neji he finally broke it off.

"What was that?" he demanded angrily, chest heaving.

"A kiss." Neji said smirking; rubbing his thumb over the other boy's swollen bottom lip.

"I know that! Why did you kiss me?" he said, cheeks flushed a pretty red.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time." Neji admitted candidly.

"What kind of reply is that—" Sasuke began again before Neji kissed him again.

Once again Sasuke broke their kiss, "Stop doing that!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Doing what?" Neji asked innocently, his hands coming to rest on Sasuke's smaller waist and pulling the other boy closer to him.

"You're—er—uh—avoiding—" Sasuke began to stutter, forgetting his point as Neji began to kiss down the column of the Uchiha's neck, eliciting small whimpering noises.

The Hyuuga boy hummed as he unbuttoned Sasuke's top, pressing kisses in line down pale skin, pausing to nibble briefly on his collarbone.

Sasuke was almost melting at the attention he was receiving from Neji's skilled tongue and fingers, he was unable to form coherent thought any longer and finally just gave into the mind-numbing pleasure as Neji finished unbuttoning his shirt and moved onto unfastening his belt.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Wow._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Maybe I was rushing into to it? Just a bit. But it's nothing right? Happens all the time. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"What's up with the hardware Hinata-chan?" Kiba said as Hinata distractedly put her books away in her locker.

"Nothing. Just felt like it." Hinata said queasily.

"How're things on the Shino front?" Kiba asked leaning against the locker next to hers.

"Nothing's changed." Hinata sighed wistfully as she looked at Shino walking by, steadfastly ignoring her.

"Cheer up! You could have it much worse; you could come from families that hate each other and end up killing yourself." Kiba said cheerfully.

Hinata slammed her locker closed, "Suicide is not a joke." She said with conviction, turning her milky eyes to Kiba's who repressed the urge to whimper.

"Alright, sorry. Come on Kurenai'll flip if we're late."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Pearleyedgirl87: I am going to find out who you are.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Sure you are. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: I wore the belt today in school. But I'm sure you already knew that.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Actually I didn't.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Yes you did. I'm going to find out who you are. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Give it up. If you find out who I am then you have to acknowledge to yourself and everyone else that you're friends with me. And I doubt that you really want to. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: If I'm going to this much trouble to look for you then why wouldn't I want to be friends with you? For all your anti-popular, fake rebel thinking you're just as hypocritical as the rest of the very people you complain about. **

**RedAsBlood09666: So? The entire human race is hypocritical. Just look at everyone in politics. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: Stop being so incredibly immature. What are you so afraid of? **

**RedAsBlood09666: It's easy for you to say that. You have friends and you are popular. I'm not and I don't want to be. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: What are you saying you don't want to be friends with me because I'm "popular"? OHMYGOSH. XX **

**RedAsBlood09666: Our friendship wouldn't work. Stop being so naïve. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: Stop being so narrow-minded. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Sorry. **

**Pearleyedgirl87: This isn't over I am going to find out who you are. And then we will have a face to face conversation because that's what friends do.**

**_Pearleyedgirl87 has signed off_ **

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Hinata bit her lip in worry before she opened her instant message window and typed in a message.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." She said resolutely.

**Chat #549856775 has been opened**

**Pearleyedgirl87 has entered room**

**UZImaki01 has entered room**

**Pearleyedgirl87: hi Naruto-kun.**

**UZImaki01:…sup **

**Pearleyedgirl87: Can I ask you a question Naruto-kun?**

**UZImaki01: Shoot.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Do you know who RedAsBlood09666 is?**

**UZImaki01:D Of course I do.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: Who is it?**

**UZImaki01: It's Gaara.**

**Pearleyedgirl87: O.o. Really? Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. I'll take you out for ramen sometime Naruto-kun.**

**_Pearleyedgirl87 has signed off_ **

_**Pearleyedgirl87 has signed on**_

**Pearleyedgirl87: Can you text me his cell number? Thnx**

_**Pearleyedgirl87 has signed off**_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Gaara had been valiantly fighting enemy fighter jets in an attempt to save the galaxy far far away when his cell rang.

He picked up his cellular device and looked at the flashing lights and the unfamiliar number and got an eerie feeling in his gut.

"Hello?"

"I told I'd find out who you are."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I think going to school won't be in my future for a very long time. _

_At least until I can walk without a limp. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"I think we should find out who he is." Hinata said without preamble in school the next day. Gaara, who was standing in line for lunch had forgone the act of resisting Hinata's attempt to integrate into society.

"He's a junior." Gaara said wanly, resisting the urge to twitch as he had gotten up way to early to go to school.

"That's a start. How did you find that out?" Hinata said cheerfully, ignoring the looks people gave her as she stood in the line without getting lunch.

"He told me. Before you stumbled into our chat." Gaara said as he paid for his regulation, chicken substitute flavored slop.

"Well at least we know his gender." Hinata said as Gaara walked to his customary table where Naruto and Sasuke sat.

"What're you doing here Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked energetically before trying to steal food off of Gaara's plate, who deftly slapped the hand trying to snatch his "nourishment" and acted as if nothing happened.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"I don't think we should do this anymore." Itachi said as he returned his clothes to their normal pristine state.

Kakashi looked up from where he was recovering his own face. "Why? Getting tired of me?"

Itachi rolled his eyes and made sure his hair didn't look like he'd just been fucked. Which is what he'd been. Fucked.

Kakashi wrapped his arms around Itachi's unyielding waist, "I will miss you."

_What you'll miss is the sex._

Itachi successfully extricated himself from the other man's grasp and slung his bag over his shoulder and looked at Kakashi's one visible eye. "Now you can finally admit those not so hidden feelings you have for my cousin." He said mordantly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"One Uchiha is not the same as the next. If you wanted Obito you should have gone to him and not me."

**END**

_**WE'VE REACHED ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS! THANKS YOU GUYS!!  
**_

Sorry for the bold and the italics but 100 reviews is a milestone for me. So to celebrate I answered a few questions that you guys have probably been scratching your heads about.

Sorry for the short chapter.

But that place was the best place to end it.

Young Sasuke- Did it get more interesting?

Thr0u6hTh31c3- Why thank you. For both of your reviews.

Wolfshadow111- Thank you.

Sickofitall1992- Arigato.

Mischeivious Skyla- Oro wont be in it until the end—ish. Lemons, on the subject I haven't quite mastered them yet so I don't have an answer for you. It might be a Neji/Sasu one.

xCrAzYxGuRlx- Well art should make you annoyed and confused and wanting more. And I'm glad that I made your day better. Eventually there will be a big reveal.

Minoki- I wish I had more to say to than just thank you. But short and sweet.

TemariShikamarulov3r161616- I'm glad to hear it.

Rabidbutterfly- Anytime, replying to reviews makes me happy.

Chibi-Crysti- I answered some questions but left some unanswered.

Dodo-chan- you found out what they're up to.

Orochimaru's Biznatch otherwise known as Jiraiya- I don't think it's the climax just yet. If you've ever seen a story diagram this is the uphill part to the climax. Oro's biznatch is so Jiraiya admit it.

Blue 1/2- Oh blue you're always deserving. And being more outgoing is easier to be on the intarwebs when you have the j/k backup waiting. I love you reviews they make me feel like a real writer.

Nanogirl- there is no denying it.

Tidal rabbit- thanks. It's what wakes me up in the morning and what keeps me up in the middle of the night.

Zafiro Okami- Thanks. Randomness, just one of the services I offer.

Taiy-Chan- Don't we all have men problems? Or lack thereof.


	13. Lonely No More

**This Is How A Heart Breaks **

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Pairings: Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin… Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! Ino/Sakura.

There is a lot of gay mentoring in the chapter. Just to warn you. And I started using text messaging and emails as well as IM conversations.

The formatting on is gay and wont show the email adresses for my email convo. Itachi starts and is selfloathersunite at konoha dot net kabuto replies and is opaqueglasses at sound dot net.

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

**LONELY NO MORE**

"Oh star fall down on me  
Let me make a wish upon you  
Hold on, let me think  
Think of what I'm wishing for

Wait, don't go away.  
Just not yet.  
Cause I thought,  
I had it.  
But I forget.

And I won't let you fall away,  
From me.  
You will never fade.  
And I won't let you fall away.  
From me.  
You will never fade away from me.

---Paramore; Oh Star

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Itachi bit his lip worriedly as he stared blankly at his computer screen.

_-----Original Message-----_

___Kabuto,_

___You haven't been in school for weeks, where are you? What did you have to do for your father that's taking this long? You're scaring me. I hope you get this and I hope you reply quickly so I don't have to come and find you myself. Seriously though. Come back. _

___Itachi_

_Itachi had written Sincerely Itachi, then Love Itachi, then Sincerely Itachi again before forgoing the whole business._

_He had never had this much trouble writing an email before. It was disconcerting._

___§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Kabuto smiled when he received Itachi's email. __Oh Itachi-kun. You're so cute sometimes. _He scratched at his bandages before tapping out his reply.

___-----Original Message-----_

_____Itachi,_

_____Don't worry. I'm alive and well. I need to finish my job and I'll be back at school soon. I hope I haven't missed that much. Help me catch up?_

_____:D_

_____Love, Kabuto_

_____§§§§§§§§§§§_

___Itachi frowned as he read Kabuto's reply and tried to ignore the way his heart soared when he read the __Love, Kabuto_ part. _It's nothing. He's being friendly, we're friends. That's it. _

_____-----Original Message-----_

_______Kabuto,_

_______You still haven't told me where you went. Seriously. I'm not going to tell the whole world. I can keep secrets you know. _

_______Sincerely, Itachi_

_____Itachi winced at his ending before sending it._

_______§§§§§§§§§§§_

_______-----Original Message-----_

_________Itachi-kun,_

_________If I could have told you. I would have already. It's cute that you worry so much. Relax. I don't want your beautiful face to be marred by wrinkles. I'm fine. _

_________Kabuto_

_________§§§§§§§§§§§_

_______The one that Neji expected to see cornering him at his locker was Sasuke but instead it was Sakura._

_______"Can I help you?" he asked warily as the girl proceeded to stare at him for five minutes and say nothing._

_______"I need your help with something." The pink haired girl said quickly as they walked to their only class together, PreCal._

_______"What can I do for you?"_

_________§§§§§§§§§§§_

_______"Any news on the boyfriend front oh dear cousin?" Sasuke asked boredly, as the pair sat in their usual secluded booth in their usual coffee place._

_______"Not really. I've started talking to him online." Shisui said, tearing into a scone._

_________I'm really horny. Why is this taking so long? Shisui is soooo whiny. And he thinks he can be seme. I feel bad for Sakon. I wish I could be doing someone right now. Instead of listening to Shisui whine about his love life. God this sucks. _

_______"Well do you talk to him in person?" Sasuke asked robotically bending his straw back and forth just to pass the time._

_______"We don't have any classes together."_

_______"Lunch, what about lunch?" Sasuke queried resting his head on his folded arms._

_______"I have English that period."_

_______"I guess you better start cutting class if you want anything to happen." Sasuke said boredly, fishing around in the pocket of his hoodie to find his cell phone to check the time._

_______**1 NEW MSG**_

_________**From: Neji**_

_________**I'm bored. Where are you?**_

_________**To: Neji**_

_________**Sorry, I'm busy now. Familial piety and all that. I'll call you later. **_

_________**From Neji:**_

_______****__I had the weirdest day. I need to tell you about it._

_______Sasuke sighed and closed his phone. "Shisui—I really think that all you need to do is ask him out and take it from there. You really don't need a mentor for this. I didn't. And all went well. Well relatively."_

_______"You have a boyfriend?" Shisui asked in disbelief. __The runt? Who is the bastard? I'll kill him._

_______"Sort of." Sasuke said evasively, avoiding Shisui's eyes._

_______"Who?"_

_______"Like I'd tell you—poster boy for the closeted. Maybe when you're on my level I will deign to release such information."_

_______Shisui threw his scone at Sasuke._

_______"Is that anyway to treat your mentor?"_

_________§§§§§§§§§§§_

_______"Gaara-kun, do you like Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked suddenly as they both lay on the glass behind school. The building had become deserted within twenty minutes of the last bell._

_______"I thought we were meeting to talk about our online buddy and his troubles?" Gaara asked defensively._

_______"Well, since he hasn't been online lately. We have no leads. So I figured I'd ask you a blunt personal question in case it was the right one that no body had ever asked before so even if you wanted to talk about it you couldn't."_

_______"That is the longest thing you have ever said to me." Gaara said._

_______"You're avoiding the question." Hinata said gently fingering her blue studded belt; she'd grown rather fond of it lately._

_______"I plead the fifth." Gaara said obliquely._

_______"So you do like him." Hinata said accusingly. "And he's too dense to realize it. And you're too heartbroken to do anything about it." She said knowingly._

_______Gaara looked at her suspiciously, "I've read manga on the subject. I'm very knowledgeable. You can ask me anything." Hinata said with more confidence than Gaara suspected she had._

_______"So you've figured out my secret. What do you intend to do with this information?" Gaara said blandly, rubbing a dandelion stalk between his fingers._

_______"Help you of course. That's what friends are for." Hinata said cheerfully. "I have some books you can borrow—to draw ideas from, it's always good to have research you know."_

_______"Books?"_

_______"More like manga. But it's still helpful. And trust me. You need the help."_

_______"Gee thanks."_

_______"No problem Gaara-kun." Hinata replied blithely ignoring his blatant sarcasm and marked due to his severe sexual repression._

_________§§§§§§§§§§§_

_______**Chat #45641977422 has been opened**_

_______**RedAsBlood09666 has entered room**_

_______**UZImaki01 has entered room**_

_______**RedAsBlood09666: Hi Naruto.**_

_______**UZImaki01: Yo! **_

_______**RedAsBlood09666: Are you busy tomorrow? Like after school?**_

_______**UZImaki01: Nope. What did you have in mind?**_

_______**RedAsBlood09666: Er…maybe we could go someplace. Like the ramen shop. **_

_______**UZImaki01: SUGEI! Is anyone else coming:D**_

_______**RedAsBlood09666: Uh. I thought it might just be the two of us. **_

_______**UZImaki01: That's cool. Is everybody else busy?**_

_______**RedAsBlood09666: Not exactly. You see. I thought it could be a date?**_

_______**UZImaki01: A date? Like handholding and kissing and flowers and chocolate kind of date?**_

_______**RedAsBlood09666: Um. If you want it to be. I figured we could just go for ramen.**_

_______**UZImaki01: That's cool. **_

_______**RedAsBlood09666: Yeah. **_

_______**Uzimaki01: Hey Gaara?**_

_______**RedAsBlood09666: Yeah?**_

_______**UZImaki01: I like you a lot. But I didn't know what to do about it. I mean, you are a really good friend to me. And a lot of the time I didn't deserve it. **_

_______**RedAsBlood09666: Um. No problem. I guess. **_

_______**END**_

_______YoungSasuke- Not so much Nejisasu this chapter. Sorry_

_______Dragon77- Thanks._

_______Taiy-Chan- :D Thanks._

_______Niver- Why thanks. And I might put that pairing in. Just maybe._

_______DancingDragonBlaze- Ah. You left me many a review. It was rather mind boggling. Dear—a transvestite is a man who dresses like a woman or vice-versa._

_______Limecandy- That's the point with the usernames. Thanks._

_______e-rabbit- I hate to say it but that's what happens when a fandom gets too big. Thank you._


	14. Tell Me Baby

**This Is How A Heart Breaks **

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Pairings: Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin… Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! Ino/Sakura.

More mentoring of the homosexually retarded. And I don't know why the last chapter came out to be entirely in italics.

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

**TELL ME BABY**

"The constellation of Leo is twinkling again, bestowing this earth with tears

From that day onwards, this back has one side's wing  
The day dawns, memories from the stars fade away

Even this sky, even this song, why?  
Losing colour, losing sound, they're not real  
Your dream enfolds me, it becomes a star that goes on resonating

The starry sky is twinkling again, this earth is exalted with tears  
The galloping time gives out light, this world without you is "fantasy""

---Alice Nine; Fantasy

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

When Sasuke had arrived home from his rendezvous with Shisui, Itachi was already locked in his room showing no sign of coming out anytime soon.

Sasuke made a face at the door and hoped that he wouldn't have to tell his brother what he had seen too soon. Itachi was likely to get violent. Fast.

Sighing and hanging his head, Sasuke bemoaned his status of little brother to Uchiha Itachi and wished that that status would make it easier for his elder sibling to take the news.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

It was shortly after Shisui had gotten a call from one of his coaches and subsequently left that Sasuke was sitting at their table alone boredly willing his phone to ring.

After fifteen minutes of this, he picked up his stuff and walked out of the coffee shop. He meandered aimlessly around the streets until he came across his favorite bookstore.

Upon entering he immediately went to the section that was most deserted; Historical Fiction. Sitting down on an overstuffed chair he picked any book and began reading.

Several minutes had passed and Sasuke had fallen asleep, book in hand. The Treaty of Versailles could only hold the interest of an angst ridden fifteen year old boy for so long.

But Sasuke was jarred from his sleep when he heard the unmistakable sound of an avalanche of books falling to the floor. Blinking he looked at his cell phone and noted that some idiot on a ladder had probably done something idiotic. He was about to go back to his book when he heard another sound.

Now, Sasuke had been bullied long enough and early in his childhood enough to recognize the sound of a fist hitting flesh. And the subsequent sound of pain that were now coming from an aisle not to far from his.

Setting aside his book, he crept slowly toward the aisle in question and peeked around the corner. What he saw warranted a second glance and a third and a fourth…

The supposedly MIA Yakushi Kabuto was holding his split lip and shaking in pain as an older man Sasuke didn't recognize towered over him. Sasuke's shock was overridden by curiosity and then apprehension for his brother's "friend."

"Filthy whore." The evil man hissed, grabbing Kabuto's chin and forcing the silver haired boy to look him in the manic eyes.

Digging through his omnipresent hoodie Sasuke quickly accessed his phone and its video capabilities and was soon recording the whole ordeal. The crazy man struck Kabuto three more times before extracting an agreement to meet again tonight at a hotel. Before leaving he also kissed Kabuto with bruising force.

Realizing that the this scene was over Sasuke quickly hurried back to his chair and his book and pretended to not have seen whatever he had just seen. His heart pounded as he waiting for the footsteps to recede before he got up and got the hell out of there.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke carefully connected his phone to his computer and uploaded the video, making sure the volume was not on and his door was locked. His mother would assume that he was working on a project and his father was never home to care anyway.

Opening the file, he also brought up his screen capping function to get a better look at the attacker. The resolution was gritty and the man's face had never been shown fully but Sasuke also opened his Photoshop CS 2.0 and set to work.

After several minutes of painstaking cleanup, the picture was still barely usable. Carefully hiding the file in his English homework folder he closed all his applications and stared at his computer.

If he listened hard enough he could hear Itachi typing furiously in the next room. Steeling his resolve, Sasuke opened his net browser and searched the name of the hotel where Kabuto was to have his "date".

"The Broken Rose?" Sasuke said to himself incredulously as the name was translated from English into Japanese.

"What the hell?" he said as he scrolled through web pages. Finally after what seemed like hours of searching he found a description of the place. "A quiet getaway for you and your secret love. Continental breakfast available upon request."

He exited all his programs and stared at his wallpaper. What the hell was going on?

Sasuke was awakened from his reverie when his phone started ringing and flashing at him violently. Looking at his screen he noted that Neji was calling. Oh. Ohhhh.

"Hello?"

"Hey. What's up?" Neji said affably.

Sasuke took note that the sound of Neji's voice made him feel warm in the pit of his stomach and grinned weakly before trying to distance himself from the debacle that had turned into his afternoon.

"So, what did you want to tell me before?" he asked.

"Well it all started in PreCal. Well actually before Precal…"

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Well you see I have a problem." Sakura said bluntly.

Neji remained silent, "Are you pregnant?"

"NO! NO! No, no, no, no!"

"Then what can I do for you?" Neji asked as he took his seat behind Sakura in their classroom.

Alphabetical order and all that.

"Give me a minute will you?"

Class had already started and Neji was engrossed in factorials when his phone vibrated indicating that he had a text message.

_**From Sakura-chan**_

_**To: Neji**_

_**You see. I think I might be a lesbian. Actually I don't think, I know. Well you see, you can't tell anyone about this because the girl I like won't admit that she likes girls and since you've only recently started dating Sasuke-kun (yes I know about that, don't ask it's just something I know) albeit in secret how does one go about this sort of thing? I'm completely at a loss. Ino is afraid of what everyone would think but I think other people should be the least of her concerns when she's lying to herself everyday. I mean I figured that me stalking a gay boy for most of my adolescence would have negative repercussions and since almost all the male friends I have are gay would affect me in some way but I didn't think it would end up like this. But…I'm so lost. Help me?**_

Neji looked over Sakura's shoulder to see that she had finished her work early and was now biting her nails to the quick in apprehension. Looking at his own paper and realizing that he wasn't even close to done he quickly tapped out a response.

_**From: Neji**_

_**To: Sakura**_

_**I assume then, that you've talked to her and her reaction is one of complete denial. And that this is your last resort. And I feel like I'm going out on a limb here but has one or both of you gotten really drunk and done something that made the other think that she was a lesbian? Like copping a feel, etc. **_

Sakura's response was stalled by the fact that their teacher had started going down the rows in order to check their homework. She hid her cell in her shirt pocket and resumed her façade of a perfect school girl.

Neji didn't even wait until his teacher finished with their row to check his reply.

_**From: Sakura**_

_**To: Neji**_

_**Eh. I think that's what happened. T.T Well something had to have happened that was strictly non-platonic or she wouldn't be avoiding me right now. **_

_**To: Sakura**_

_**From: Neji**_

_**The best thing you can do is confront her. Or get drunk again and do something rash. I mean, what could it hurt? And by the way, I really don't think that I was the best possible choice for this advice thing. I'm pretty sure you could have found several more experienced people for this job.**_

_**To: Neji**_

_**From: Sakura**_

_**I didn't want experienced, I wanted someone experiencing. If I had gone to someone who'd always been gay and always been out then I wouldn't have gotten objective advice from someone who'd been in my position. You have and besides how else am I going to blackmail Sasuke-kun with juicy details of his not-so-secret-secret relationship?**_

_**To: Sakura**_

_**From: Neji**_

_**Well. Don't say I didn't warn you. **_

_**To: Neji**_

_**From: Sakura**_

_**So what now, Sensei? I am your student. Remake me in your image. :D**_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Gaara felt as if he would float away, he heart was so light. If this was what love was supposed to feel like then he owed Hinata his first-born child.

He sighed breathily and touched a hand to his lips; his date with Naruto had gone so well.

Even though Gaara secretly hated ramen and the mere smell of it almost made him hurl. Naruto made everything better. The Sabaku hated the corniness of the idea but the orange-clad boy was like the light of his life.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Naruto smiled goofily as he closed his apartment door. Gaara was so cute, thinking that Naruto was too dense to realize the other boy hated ramen. But the red head got an A for effort.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Listening to Neji's tale of his crazy afternoon did not even rank in Sasuke's weirdness scale. He supposed it was because he'd been gay-mentoring Shisui for what felt like forever.

But it did pass the time until Kabuto was to have his date with the crazy enraged man. It was nearing steadily and Sasuke was debating whether or not to tell his brother.

"Sakura and Ino? Well it must be the water. Neji, got to go. I'll be online later. Bye."

Sasuke groaned and left the safety of his room to break the news to Itachi.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Itachi was supposed to be working on a term project of his but all his fingers wanted to do was type more emails to Kabuto. The Uchiha rubbed at his face in frustration and closed his email account in a vain attempt to get back to his work.

Sasuke knocked on the door, hoping that Itachi would be asleep, in a coma, or had snuck out the window. Unfortunately for him, none of those were true.

"Come in." Itachi called robotically.

"Hey Aniki. What're you up to?" Sasuke said awkwardly, inwardly cringing at how suspicious it sounded.

Itachi didn't even look up. "What do you want?"

"This is going sound really bad but keep this in mind. I tell you because you're my brother and despite any previous claims I may have made, blood is thicker than water. So hear me out before you decide to beat me up."

Itachi looked at him strangely.

"So today, I was at the bookstore. And I saw Kabuto." He began hesitantly.

His brother looked up at him. "What?"

"Uh—yes. Kabuto—your friend."

Itachi's gaze was boring holes into Sasuke's face. This was not going to end well.

"He was with someone. A man."

"A man? Was this man a person?"

Sasuke graciously ignored the insult, "The man forced himself on Kabuto and then is making him come to a love motel tonight. In an hour." He said quickly.

Itachi was silent.

Sasuke began to inwardly panic and began to back away slowly, he was caught unaware when Itachi threw a text book at his head.

"Great. This is why we don't do things for each other. It always ends up with you throwing something at my head."

"This isn't a funny joke."

"That could be because it's not a joke." Sasuke pointed out mordantly, holding his hand to his split lip. He played the video for Itachi. Whose eyes then went red.

Sasuke had learnt his lesson the first time, because Itachi was blind with anger he was able to run out the door before he was beaten into a pulp in his own house.

He held the door closed with all of his weight.

"Itachi I'm really telling the truth here! Calm down!" Sasuke said gripping the doorknob for dear life. The door was jarred ominously most likely by Itachi throwing his body weight against it. Sasuke cursed his genes that had cursed him with his shorter and lither frame. It usually worked against him.

Maneuvering carefully he managed to jimmy a chair to the doorknob so it wouldn't open from the inside. Rolling his eyes heavenward he hoped that anyone up there would take note of his one deed of brotherly love and count it in his favor later on.

Wincing at the telltale crunch of plastic and wiring that used to be his cell, Sasuke slipped a piece of paper under the door.

"It's the name and address of the place Kabuto is going tonight. Maybe you can figure out why he's disappeared from school. I'm leaving now." Sasuke said as he slowly backed away.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Mikoto hummed as she came back from grocery shopping, after she had put away her goods she made her way up the stairs. Knocking on Sasuke's door and finding no reply she moved on to Itachi's where someone had leant a chair against it.

Knocking and receiving no response, she went in and saw her eldest son's normally pristine room in chaotic disarray. Textbooks were strewn everywhere, things knocked over and she had stepped on something that remotely resembled a phone.

Lastly, she noticed the open window with the curtains blowing, she sighed and closed it.

Boys will be boys.

**END**

YoungSasuke- slightly longer, yes?

Errisu-chan- Some of the names are deliberately ambiguous. But a lot of them are stated in the chapters. Or least I think they are.

Taiy-chan- it is! Manga is the manna of life.

BlankPanther17- Ew. I don't write Sai that interloper! Or I might have been tempted to write it for you. You can make it up to me by reviewing this chapter. Thank you, after reading so much good fic, sometimes I'm paranoid about my characterizations. And I personally hate it when Sakura is paired with Sasuke or Naruto or made to be so out of character that I can't do anything else but bash her.

Niver-that's cute. In a bloodthirsty way.

Rivalovery- Aw. Blushes. You're cute too. Thanks for reviewing.


	15. Filth In The Beauty

**This Is How A Heart Breaks **

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Pairings: Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin… Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! Ino/Sakura.

Lots of Uchiha in this chapter.

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

**FILTH IN THE BEAUTY**

"Since when did were we unable to pass the days smiling as we should be?  
The season spent together with you is dyed white, lying thickly in my heart

Aa, the powdery snow falls incessantly in this sky  
Now, I reach out my hand, and took hold of you.

What's more beautiful than the warm snow?  
Falling upon and disappearing on our cheeks  
Like the white flower, you were blooming"

---Alice Nine; Gin no Tsuki Kuroi Hoshi

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Would you happen to have a steak?" Sasuke said as he appeared on Neji's doorstep a few hours after his phone call.

Neji frowned in puzzlement and opened his door to let Sasuke in. Sasuke was cradling his face in one hand and when Neji went to freezer to get out ice he saw that his boyfriend's face was covered in one big bruise and his was split.

"What the hell?" he asked handing Sasuke the ice.

"Itachi." Sasuke said by way of explanation.

"Your brother?" Neji said in disbelief. "What'd you do to him?"

Sasuke glared, "What do you mean what'd I do to him? You should be comforting me or something."

Neji stared at him blankly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Itachi was not happy. Not at all. Not only had he not finished his paper, he had to listen to his brother's bullshit story about Kabuto, and maybe worst of all he was sitting in front of the Broken Rose in his car hoping that the silver haired boy was not one of the occupants of the many yet affordable rooms in the love motel.

Even worse than all that was the feeling Itachi had felt when Sasuke had described that afternoon's incident. He'd never felt that famed green monster before until this afternoon when it turned him into a completely different person.

Itachi hoped that Sasuke wasn't in his grudge holding mood.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

When Obito pulled up to his cousins' house the next morning with Shisui already in the car he'd expected the normal backseat snarking between all teenagers present.

Sasuke would not respond to any jibe or insult Shisui sent his way, that was oddly…mature of him, Obito noted as he maneuvered the vehicle smoothly.

Itachi on the other hand was steadfastly burning a hole in the windshield with his eyes. He said nothing, showed no emotion, and barely moved. Obito idly wondered what was wrong.

But Shisui beat him to the punch, "What the fuck? Sasuke you haven't said a word—are you alive?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but raised a hand to touch his bruised cheek and glared at Itachi instead.

Itachi responded by doing nothing at all. This in turn drove Shisui crazy.

"Is anyone home? HELLO!"

Inwardly, Obito had a hearty chuckle; family was an interesting thing indeed.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

As it turned out, Obito hadn't had his fill of family fun yet. He was reminded of this when Sasuke, Itachi, and Shisui trooped into his classroom after the last bell had rung.

"Don't we look happy." He observed putting down the eraser on the chalkboard's ledge.

"Since neither of these two geniuses of talking I guess I have to remind you that tonight we're having that big family dinner where everyone shows up and talks and gets embarrassingly drunk." Shisui said sourly.

Obito raised his eyebrows. So that was tonight. Inwardly shrugging he retrieved his coat and keys and went to the teacher's parking lot.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Obito felt warm in the pit of his stomach as some delicacy he couldn't identify was shoveled onto his plate. He suppressed the urge to yawn and made a beeline toward the basement where the Three Stooges had congregated.

Shisui practically radiated relief at someone who would at least reply at his quips, if not fire a scathing one right back.

The basement was the usual place for the four of them to go when the clan dissolved into drunken adults loudly telling stories that circulated during Christmas and holiday time. Although technically Obito was an adult, now that he had a real job and his own place.

Shisui was saying something, annoying in his ear like a bee but Obito was thinking about what could have driven Itachi and Sasuke to act so weirdly. Waiting until he was sure Shisui was silent he asked the loaded question: "So why are you guys angry at each other?"

The tension was palpable; Shisui looked uneasy.

Obito was fine with the fact that the brothers had decided to ignore his question, he was about to turn his attention back to the muted television when Sasuke replied voice quiet and even.

"Itachi's "friend" has been doing some illicit things." he said vaguely, pushing the food on his plate around, not even blinking when his brother shot him a venomous look.

"What? It's true. Don't even deny it. You can't—you went didn't you? You saw him." Sasuke said suddenly, words flinging themselves at Itachi like weapons.

"Shut up." Itachi said, his voice steely, his grip on his fork becoming white-knuckled.

"No. Admit it." Sasuke said defiantly.

The only sound in the room that mattered was the grinding of Itachi's teeth. The TV had long been ignored and Shisui was too engrossed in this exchange to get up and turn it off.

"Say it. Or can't you? Can't you admit that you Uchiha Itachi made a mistake in judgment?" Sasuke went on.

Obito and Shisui shared a look; Shisui closed the door and locked it. It wouldn't do any good if parental figures heard this argument.

"Shut up. Shut up. SHUT UP!" Itachi shouted.

Obito had an uneasy feeling in his stomach; he regretted his decision of coming down here.

"Stop talking about me like you have any idea what's going in my life Sasuke. Just keep your trap shut for once."

"Why? Because I was right and you can't stand it?"

"People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. Don't you think I know about you and Hyuuga Neji? Mom and Dad may be blind but I'm not. Do you really think that he's going to give up his life for you? His friends? His sports scholarship? Stop kidding yourself; he's just playing with you. I'm surprised you haven't gone down in flames already." Itachi replied viciously.

Sasuke recoiled as if he'd been hit. But returned fire; "Like Kabuto's playing with you? Like he pretended to act all innocent with you and then disappeared from school and solicited sex from older men in love motels? Like that Aniki?" Sasuke's voice cracked.

Shisui foolishly tried to placate the siblings, "You guys--"

"We should what Shisui? You of all people giving us advice—you're the poster boy for the closeted and the ashamed. Why would Sakon ever love a coward like you?" Sasuke said stabbing the one chink in Shisui's armor. Obito's intervention was the only thing that prevented Shisui from physically rendering his younger cousin to pieces.

"I think that's quite enough from all of you."

Itachi scoffed in disgust and crossed his arms; it wasn't fair that Obito was the only one with peace of mind. If Itachi was going down in flames he'd be damned if everyone one else wasn't going down with him.

"You're a hypocrite like the rest of us, Cousin. Tell me how is Kakashi-sensei?" Shisui and Sasuke were eyeing Itachi like he was a caged animal.

Obito stared at his younger cousin.

"What do you mean?"

"Does he take you out to dinner? Does he send you flowers? Does he call you? Does he wrap his arms around you? Does he touch you and kiss you and mark you all over? Tell me, does he make love to you?" Itachi's eyes were red, not with anger but with tears.

Obito felt the bubble that he'd been living in for the past few weeks pop. And now he was falling, oh was he falling. This couldn't be true.

"I bet he does. I bet he loves you—but Cousin I hope it isn't in the way he loved me. In closets or in empty classrooms. Cousin I hope you get the decency of a bed." Itachi said his voice barely above a whisper.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Why'd you want to come over?" Naruto asked quizzically as he opened the door and let his best friend in. "And what happened to your face?"

"Long story. Do you have any really violent video games that we can play?" Sasuke said darkly, ignoring the mess in Naruto's room and sitting on the bed.

Naruto blinked and stared at Sasuke, who'd been acting weird lately but as of this moment had begun acting his weirdest yet.

"Not until you tell me what's up." Naruto said closing his bedroom door and Sasuke clenched his fists and looked skyward.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Naruto and Sasuke had relocated to their old childhood haunt, the decrepit playground swings at the elementary school they'd attended.

Naruto was silent, "And then we got into the biggest argument I've ever had with any of them. Suffice it to say that we don't have anymore secrets."

"A lot of big traumatizing secrets that really should never have been told."

Naruto nodded appreciatively, "Like what?"

Sasuke eyed Naruto speculatively before replying, "Like Kakashi-sensei and Itachi were sleeping together."

For once, Naruto's only reaction to something shocking was silence.

"Yeah. Imagine that reaction only multiplied times a million." Sasuke said, having said enough.

The only sound for awhile was the creaking of the swing set as they sat there in amicable quiet.

"So has Gaara made a move yet?"

Naruto flushed and looked down at his feet. Sasuke felt the corners of his mouth quirk in a grin, "Has he done more than that?" he teased poking Naruto in the arm.

The ramen loving boy was now as pink as a pansy, and Sasuke laughed.

"That's cool. You guys are perfect for each other."

Naruto's face cooled to its previous color, he checked his watch, "Hey you want to stay for dinner?"

Sasuke thought about it, dinner at Naruto's usually consisted of ramen and some kind of vegetable with folic acid. It was way more appealing than dinner at his house but Sasuke decided that enough was enough.

"As much as I love spinach casserole and beef ramen I think I'll have to pass. Time to fight it out again." Sasuke said resolutely.

"If I fall asleep call me on my cell to tell me about WWIII."

"Can do."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke said hello to his mother and some semblance of a greeting to his father before making his way up to his brother's room. Setting his bag down outside the door he knocked and then entered.

Predictably Itachi was sitting at his computer trying to finish something.

"Itachi. I think we need to talk." He said quietly waiting for his brother to look at him.

"Really? I think we've talked enough." Itachi replied, voice hollow.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "Stop acting like a girl. You said really mean things and I said really mean things. Can we call it even?"

"Even? You're kidding right?" Itachi turned to stare at his brother.

"No I'm not because unlike you, instead of spending all this time in my room alone typing something that obviously doesn't hold my interest I would be out asking Kabuto why he hasn't come to school in months and why I saw him at a love motel with some guy when I'm apparently in love with him."

Itachi was silent, if he was gearing to throw something at Sasuke's head, his little brother was ready.

"Yeah. I noticed that—even if you hadn't. So you can talk as much shit as you want about me or Obito or Shisui—it doesn't matter. Bringing other people down doesn't make you any better."

Itachi was silent; his continued reticence spurred Sasuke on. "What're you afraid of? Dad? I hope not because he hasn't intimidated me since middle school."

Sasuke ended with this gem: "So in closing, we all owe each other apologies but before that we should fix our fucked up lives. I nominate you to go first."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Life is pretty good, until the other shoe drops. I mean what're the odds that in the same family there are so many secrets that should have been obvious before. But we just ignored them. _

_Hindsight is always 20/20. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke sighed as he sat in his usual booth at the coffee shop where he usually snarked at Shisui.

Shisui was late—but Sasuke supposed he deserved it for what he said.

His cousin slid into the booth and an awkward silence commenced.

"I'm sorry." Sasuke said bluntly, resting his hands on the table.

Shisui stared at him blankly.

_Why can't he stop being a stubborn ass and accept my apology? Stupid Uchiha pride._

Sasuke was about to speak when Shisui cut him off, "When you and Itachi were fighting and then you said that thing to me. It made me think. Why don't I just ask him out? Why don't I talk to him more? Why don't I do all these things? What am I afraid of? So today I asked him out."

Sasuke blinked.

"And he said yes."

**END**

YoungSasuke- I don't know about that. I haven't decided whether or not Kabuto should get saved. Thanks.

DancingDragonBlaze- School is ugh. Sadly no NejiSasu in this chap. Uchiha conflict. Sakura's lesbianism shouldn't be that much of a surprise. The first IM conversation is Chapter Ten is Sakura and Ino. Why am I putting them through hell? That's what high school is I guess.

Taiy-Chan- Thanks.

BlackPanther17- There's no way Neji could be straight—look at that hair. It is some kind of sick fan service. I love it.

Dragon77- Thanks.

Xkaarinax-Shh—no guessing until the end.


	16. Bang Bang

**This Is How A Heart Breaks **

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Pairings: Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin… Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! Ino/Sakura.

There's some serious smexing going on in this chapter you guys.

Hadn't done the IM conversations in awhile.

I missed it.

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

**BANG BANG**

"You sit there in your heartache  
Waiting on some beautiful boy to  
To save you from your old ways  
You play forgiveness  
Watch it now  
Here he comes

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus  
But he talks like a gentleman  
Like you imagined  
When you were young"

---The Killers; When You Were Young

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke gaped at his cousin.

"What?" he said incredulously.

"In the benefit of the doubt—I'm going to assume that you're shocked because I took the initiative to ask him not because it is unlikely he would have wanted to go out with me. Honestly."

Sasuke just stared at Shisui. "Since you still lack communicative functions I'll explain. After we had that huge fight, I got to thinking. What was I waiting for? I mean I'm not a coward—contrary to "popular" belief. Then I realized that if I asked him then I would have to come to terms with it. So I hadn't. In true Uchiha fashion I'd ignored it and hoped that it would go away."

Sasuke blinked thoughtfully.

"So basically what you're saying is that you've had your epiphany about this whole ordeal."

"Yes."

"Because I called you a woman and a coward?"

"Yes. You never called me a woman."

"And said things we didn't mean?" _Maybe not to your face_

"Yes."

"Weird."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat room #446542149**

**SelfLoathersUnite has entered room**

**XxjustSuixX has entered room**

**XxjustSuixX: hey**

**SelfLoathersUnite: hey**

**XxjustSuixX: how are you doing? I mean, have you done anything?**

**SelfLoathersUnite: It's one AM in the morning Shisui.**

**XxjustSuixX: So? We're so fucked up that it can't wait. Time's a wasting.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Shut up. What have you done?**

**XxjustSuixX: I got me a boyfriend.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: …you're kidding right?**

**XxjustSuixX: Nope. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: Who's stupid enough to date a repressed being such as yourself?**

**XxjustSuixX: Sakon. Thank you very much. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: Nice choice—didn't know you were into sadomasochism.**

**XxjustSuixX: Very funny.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Who's laughing? I'm serious.**

**XxjustSuixX: What?**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Yeah.**

**XxjustSuixX: Are you serious?**

**SelfLoathersUnite: That's what I hear from Ukon. **

**XxjustSuixX:O**

**SelfLoathersUnite: It's not that hard to guess. I mean look at his personality, he's vicious, vindictive, and has a nasty mean streak.**

**XxjustSuixX:…**

**SelfLoathersUnite: You picked a winner.**

**XxjustSuixX:…**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Are you ready to be topped HARDCORE?**

**XxjustSuixX: shut up.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Are you blushing uke-chan?**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke shifted the phone from where it was balanced between his ear and his shoulder as he opened the door to his room to his hand.

"Yeah—uhuh. Yes." He said not really paying attention to Neji, as the boy talked about some sport or other. He was biding his time until he could say what he needed to say.

Sasuke stood at his window and saw the tree in his yard sway in the wind. Neji was asking him something.

"Oh. Yeah. Totally." Sasuke said not even realizing what he was saying. Neji laughed and there was quiet on the line.

"Neji?"

"Mmm?"

"I need to tell you something." Sasuke said in his smallest voice.

"Go ahead." Neji said warily.

"At first when we had this 'thing' I was the one who overacted because maybe you weren't open enough for me. But maybe now I've undereacted."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke could practically see Neji's furrowed brows.

"I mean that I can't pretend that we're not together in school. I can't pretend that we're just acquaintances anymore. I can't ignore you anymore and I can't watch you pretend to flirt with girls. It's all a show and I can't stand it anymore. I want to introduce to my friends and be introduced to yours. I'd even sit through a family dinner with you."

Neji was silent on the other end.

"I guess what I'm saying is that I understand that you're afraid. But I can't understand why. You shouldn't care what other people think. And if you're family doesn't understand you that I could understand but I know you haven't told them. If you're worried your friends won't accept you then I guess they aren't really your friends are they?" Sasuke said quietly, pressing his fingers against his glass window.

Neji didn't say anything; Sasuke sighed and tried not to scream.

After another moment of not speaking Sasuke said goodbye before he exploded. "I guess I'll see you."

Neji said nothing and all Sasuke heard was a click as he was hung up on.

Sasuke looked at his reflection in his window and saw his face screwed up, about to cry. He took a breath and wiped his eyes on his sleeve. He felt restless and couldn't stay still. He flopped down on his bed and took deep breaths with his arm still pressed to eyes to stop his tears.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_My life is a mess right now. It really kind of sucks._

_I went out on a limb and fell from the tree. _

_God what the hell?_

_It seems like whenever I take one step forward I take two steps back. This is ridiculous. I shouldn't care this much. _

_About someone who didn't even really love me that much._

_He was too afraid to love me. I mean, that's fine. I'm not going to force him to stay with me. _

_But why does it hurt so much? _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

When Itachi came home that day he found Sasuke in their immaculate living room. Which in a normal family wouldn't have been odd but in his family no one lived in their living room.

Sasuke was glaring at the TV, he had it on to some strange cooking show where the host talked loudly and cut a pear and pretended it was cooking.

Itachi collapsed into their stiff couch.

Itachi looked at his brother and wondered how the time had got away from him. He wondered why they didn't speak anymore. Why didn't they spend time together like they used to? Why didn't he know Sasuke like he should?

He opened his mouth to say something to his brother but he took one look at Sasuke and lost his resolve.

"So, what did you do today?" Itachi asked, trying to get over the awkwardness.

Sasuke stopped glaring at the TV at least. But he didn't say anything; well at least Itachi had tried.

The elder brother was about to say something else when Sasuke replied. "Oh nothing much, just got dumped. How was your day?"

Itachi could play that game. "Oh nothing new, I just apologized to my teacher and his boyfriend, our cousin, for being a home wrecker and then I tracked down my "friend" to ask why he's been moonlighting as a male prostitute. Just the same old same old."

Sasuke snorted and turned off the TV.

The minutes passed in silence before both brothers burst into peals of laughter.

"You can't make this shit up." Sasuke observed, wiping tears from his eyes.

Itachi grinned in spite of the mess his life was, "Damn straight."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"So, yeah. That's what happened." Sasuke said tiredly as he recounted his experience to Naruto and Gaara the next day at lunch.

Gaara agreed in his silence and Naruto slurped appreciatively.

Sasuke sighed, "Hey Gaara where's your sidekick today?"

Gaara turned to the seat next to him that had come to be Hinata's wondered where she had gone. In these past few weeks she had been a constant presence in his life insistently prodding him in the right direction on the right path.

He shrugged and Naruto finished his ramen with a loud belch.

"Gaara, would you happen to have the math homework?" Naruto asked angelically.

Gaara stared at him stonily, "If you don't learn it yourself how're you going to learn?"

"I would have done it last night but someone was keeping me busy with--" Naruto was cut off by Gaara's hand muffling his response.

Naruto smiled as the work was given to him.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Technically my life still sucks. I mean my home life—well—let's not talk about that. But now I have someone who—forgive the pun—but he's the sunshine in my life._

_I was so stupid to wait this long. I guess in a way I kind of owe Hinata, for constantly pushing me to do the right thing. She's so annoying that way. But without her I wouldn't have asked Naruto out._

_Oh and his kisses. _

_Whew—I'm getting hot—thinking about them. Ew when did I become such a girl?_

_It's a good thing I'm incapable of blushing or I would be as red as my hair right now. _

_It's hard to believe that one person could do that but it's true. I mean I shouldn't have wasted all that time before because now that we're together the world could end tomorrow and I wouldn't have any regrets._

_Well—maybe I should have eaten that last slice of coconut cream pie. _

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Hey Neji-kun!" Lee said brightly as he caught up to his friend in the hall.

"Oh, hi Lee." Neji said a touch despondent. Lee was smiling brighter than usual, most likely because of Tayuya and her "positive" influence.

"Where is Tayuya by the way?" the red head had made a point of walking Lee to class to make sure that if he arrived early he didn't do something stupid like challenge him shelf to catch every particle of chalk dust that fell to the ground as he clapped the erasers.

"She's in class."

_That's new. Maybe this relationship thing isn't so bad. If Lee can reform Tayuya._

Neji dimly wondered if he had made the right decision but was interrupted in his thought process when Lee asked him a question. Oh shit. Had Lee been talking this entire time?

"I'm sorry Lee could you repeat that?"

"It wasn't that important my bosom buddy! I was just wondering if something had been bothering you lately. You seem to have lost some of your vigor for life." Lee flipped him a thumbs up for reassurance.

"Huh. Oh, I've just been a little burnt out with exams." Neji said, lying uneasily and feeling guilty because Lee would not be able to tell the difference.

"Perhaps you should take a mental health day my friend! They can be quite refreshing."

Now Neji must have been hearing things because he had never known Lee to take a break from anything, not from school, not from work, not from clubs, and not even from boy scouts.

Lee was push, push, push, until he dropped. Who was he to tell Neji to take a break? He didn't need a break, he was just having a bad day—everyone had bad days. He'd be back on his feet in no time. Mental health day, what a crock.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_I'm such a coward; this is the second time that I've messed up an important relationship because I was scared. I'm so selfish. I mean Sasuke probably is just as scared as I am but he's willing to go through with this. _

_How can he be so strong?_

_Then again, how come I'm not? I mean I don't care what other people think? What am I so afraid of?_

_I hate this. I'm never this cautious or hesitant. What happened to me? The old Neji wouldn't have cared—he wouldn't have minded if a few of his friends stopped talking to him or if he lost his sports scholarship._

_Then again, the old Neji wasn't gay. _

_I'm so fucked._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Hinata was struggling with seeing behind her books when someone bumped into her and everything went flying. Cursing under her breath, she quickly collected everything and was about to pick up her last item when her hand collided with someone else's.

"Sorry." Shino said apologetically as he handed the last book to Hinata and rose from his crouched position on the floor.

Hinata dazedly mimicked him, _Am I dreaming or is Shino talking to me?_

She wasn't dreaming, he was talking to her. He was standing in front of her, waiting for her to say something, he was _so_ close.

"Thanks." She said enchanted, she could practically smell Shino's deodorant. It was a scent she sorely missed; Kiba's Giorgio Armani just wasn't cutting it anymore.

Shino continued to stand there and Hinata was overwhelmed by the urge to hug him. But she quashed it.

"How have you been?" Hinata asked awkwardly, cringing inwardly.

"Good. Things are looking up though."

"Really? Why is that?"

"Because I've started talking to you again." Shino said shyly, lowering his customary glasses to look at Hinata, who felt like she would swoon any minute now. _He's talking to me! ME! ME! This means he might not hate me anymore! YES! YES! YES! YES!_

Shino looked at her longingly. _I wasted too much time. I shouldn't have treated her this way. She deserves so much better than me. She looks so beautiful. I just want to hold her forever and never let her go. _

"Hey, do you want to do something? Like after school?" Shino asked quietly.

Hinata's heart soared; _YES! YES! I WANT TO DO EVERYTHING WITH YOU! YES!_

"Like what?" she asked, twirling a strand of her hair around her index finger coyly.

"Kiba and Ukon are seeing a movie, I don't think they'd mind if we tag along." Shino said evenly.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

As it turned out, the movie that Kiba and Ukon picked was a slasher flick with no plot to speak of. But it didn't bother them because as soon as the lights when down the pair starting making out like the world was ending.

Hinata watched the entire movie peeking between her fingers. Shino looked uneasy, looking at Hinata and then looking over at Ukon and Kiba who seemed to have evolved past needing air.

The movie got gorier and gorier as it progressed, so Hinata had taken to grabbing Shino's arm and squeezing. Shino felt warm in the pit of his stomach whenever that happened. When you finally got to see the villain in all his deformed glory, Hinata shrieked and covered her head.

Shino looked over at the cowering girl next to him, and then looked over at his best friend and his boyfriend, who were seated in each other's laps feeding each other chocolate covered raisins and steeled his resolve.

He raised his arms over his head, preparing to do the yawn wrap arm around girl move, when Hinata beat him to the punch and buried her head in his chest as the villain decapitated someone with a guillotine and an eighteen wheel truck.

Shino looked down at the trembling girl sprawled across him and smiled. The rip-off price he paid seemed more than worth it now.

"Is it over now?" Hinata asked quietly.

"Not yet."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

_Sometimes life is just—so good to you that you know eventually that its going to suck a whole lot soon. Like a whole damn lot. _

_But you can only play the cards you've been dealt, right?_

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Kabuto had been dozing on his couch when the doorbell rang. He ignored it in favor of sleeping, but it kept ringing insistently like a buzzing bee. So eventually, Kabuto lost the ability to doze and got up to answer it.

"Itachi-kun." He blinked before stepping aside to let Itachi come in. "What are you doing here?"

Itachi looked somber. "We need to talk; can you come with me for a little bit?"

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

They ended up walking along the beach, letting the tide tease their bare feet as it rolled in and back out.

"What did you want to talk about?" Kabuto asked quietly, shading his eyes from the sun.

Itachi was silent for moment, "Sasuke saw you." He began, turning to look at Kabuto.

"Saw me where?"

"He saw you in the bookstore with that guy a few days ago." Itachi said seriously.

All the color drained from Kabuto's face, "And then I saw you. Coming out of the love motel." Itachi continued.

Kabuto stopped in his tracks, "I-Itachi-kun—you can't--"

Itachi turned to look at him, "I didn't tell anyone—but I want to know what's really been going on. I don't want to hear about things from my brother and most of all I don't want you to avoid me. If you're having a problem I want to know. We're friends, after all, aren't we?"

Kabuto bit his lip and looked down at his toes, partially obscured by sand.

Itachi lifted up his chin to stare him in the eye, "Look at me. I'm not going to judge you. Just tell me what's been going on." Kabuto tried to look away but Itachi's grip held firm.

"I can't." Kabuto said, form trembling.

"You can. It's me."

Itachi wrapped his arms around Kabuto and pulled him close. "It's alright. Tell me."

Kabuto was still shaking when he pulled back, "I can't." he said looking into Itachi's face searchingly. _Please don't make me._

Itachi kissed him, and they fell back onto the sand, clichéd as it was, Kabuto held onto Itachi for dear life, as if he was afraid that Itachi would leave him.

They kissed and kissed until the tide came in again and both of them broke apart soggily, and sat on the beach.

Itachi dried Kabuto's glasses on one of the only parts of his shirt that were dry and they sat back on the beach together.

"Why can't you tell me?" Itachi asked insistently, stroking Kabuto's silver hair absently.

"I can't tell anyone." Kabuto said in his smallest voice.

"Why?"

"I can't tell anyone why either."

Itachi stood up suddenly, offering his hand to Kabuto, "Let's go back to your place."

"Why?"

"Because Sasuke's busy moping at mine and I think we need a little privacy."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Itachi held Kabuto's hand the entire drive back to his place. This made Kabuto feel guilty, Itachi was being so understanding. _No! He'll turn on you. He'll turn you in. He doesn't really love you. Stop fooling yourself. _

Kabuto fumbled with his keys as he felt Itachi's presence behind him. Kabuto could smell Itachi's cologne and his aftershave. It was driving him crazy—shorting out his circuits.

They barely made it to the couch, Itachi was all over him—hands under his shirt and trying to unbuckle his pants. He couldn't breathe.

"Where's your room?" Itachi asked voice husky from stealing Kabuto's breath away.

"Second on the left." Kabuto said hoarsely, as Itachi picked him up and carried him. He was thrown down on the bed and Itachi moved on top of him, straddling his waist.

His eyes asked, _Are you sure?_ Kabuto nodded fiercely and opened the end table drawer to get a bottle of lube. Itachi kissed him hard and dominating before moving lower, sucking and biting at one side of Kabuto's neck, making sure to leave a mark.

He ripped off Kabuto's top, buttons flying every which way; he teased both pink nipples before moving down to his navel to press his tongue into briefly.

Itachi made quick work of his pants and boxers. _Is this okay?_

Kabuto never felt so cared for, Itachi's obvious concern and his slow pace made all the difference. He twined his fingers in Itachi's dark inky hair as the other boy went down on him.

_I don't deserve this. I don't deserve him._

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Afterwards, Itachi asked him if he was alright and stayed with him. Pressing close to him beneath the covers, their hands tangled together.

Kabuto drew circles on Itachi's warm chest—this was new. He'd never had an encounter where someone had stayed with him after.

Itachi was saying something; Kabuto pressed his ear to Itachi's chest and heard his steady heart beat and the rumbling sound when he spoke.

He was stroking Kabuto's hair again, "Are you alright?"

Kabuto smiled, "Yes. I'm fine. I'm not made of glass, Itachi-kun." He said liltingly, eyes twinkling.

"That's a relief." Itachi said dryly.

They were silent, Itachi whispered, "Do you have any idea how you make me feel?"

They were both sitting up now, sheets bunched up at the waist, Itachi's arms firmly and possessively around Kabuto.

He pressed a kiss against the side of Kabuto's neck, and another, and another. Kabuto felt like he was flying or drowning—in any case he couldn't breathe.

Is this what love was supposed to feel like?

"I love you." Itachi murmured into his ear as he nibbled on an earlobe.

Kabuto froze.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat room #1244164646**

**SelfLoathersUnite has entered room**

**XxjustSuixX has entered room**

**XxjustSuixX: so?**

**SelfLoathersUnite: so what?**

**XxjustSuixX: You know what.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Why can you only talk to me in the middle of the night?**

**XxjustSuixX: Did you do something?**

**SelfLoathersUnite: I just saw you like five hours ago.**

**XxjustSuixX: You did something, didn't you?**

**SelfLoathersUnite: …**

**XxjustSuixX: AHA! So I guess you found out Kabuto's big secret. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: No.**

**XxjustSuixX: No? Then what did you do? **

**SelfLoathersUnite: Nothing.**

**XxjustSuixX: Stop being retarded. Tell me. **

**FanManAvenger! has entered room**

**FanManAvenger!: What are you guys doing up?**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Like you should talk—isn't it past your bedtime?**

**FanManAvenger!: HEY! I suffer from insomnia. **

**XxjustSuixX: Yeah right, if insomnia is called Hyuuga Neji. **

**FanManAvenger!:…**

**SelfLoathersUnite: That was a low blow.**

**XxjustSuixX: Shut up and tell me what you've done.**

**FanManAvenger!:…:D**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Sasuke… **

**XxjustSuixX: What? You know something?**

**SelfLoathersUnite: He doesn't know anything.**

**FanManAvenger:D I know what Itachi did.**

**XxjustSuixX: No fair. You guys live together.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Stop talking about me like I'm not here.**

**FanManAvenger!: It's really good. Shisui. **

**XxjustSuixX: Stop teasing me already.**

**FanManAvenger!: No. I don't think I will. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: HELLO! **

**XxjustSuixX: Tell me c'mon. **

**FanManAvenger!: No. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: Stop already! This is irritating. **

**XxjustSuixX: Pleaaase. I want to know. **

**FanManAvenger!: Nope. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: You guys are idiots. **

**UltimateKaton has entered room**

**UltimateKaton: Little kiddies should be in bed at this hour. **

**XxjustSuixX: Itachi's done something and won't share. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: It's none of your business.**

**FanManAvenger:D**

**UltimateKaton: that just means you don't want to share. Sasuke, it seems like you know something. Would you like to share?**

**FanManAvenger!: I can't. **

**SelfLoathersUnite: can we please talk about something else. **

**UltimateKaton/XxjustSuixX: no**

**FanManAvenger:D**

**END**

HEY thirteen pages of stuff. How do you like me now? Get some. Get some.

Rachel- thanks.

Dragon77- Lol. They're trying aren't they?

Taiy-Chan- Thanks. I loves me some Uchihas.

YoungSasuke- Still haven't found out why Kabuto missed school but there's smex.

DancingDragonBlaze- No neji/sasu here either unfortunately.

Niver- Thanks. I give you permission for the hand in marriage of my fic.

Turtle Kid- …

e-rabbit- I have no idea how I'm going to write that pairing. Mad crack.

BlackPanther17- lol fanservice.


	17. Lying From You

**This Is How A Heart Breaks **

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Pairings: Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin… Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! Ino/Sakura.

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

**LYING FROM YOU**

"Where do I begin, with this life we're living in  
Market youth their uniform, make us all fit in  
But do you think, that we're that blind?  
That we can't see through all your lies

Cause it's no good  
Burn burn the stations  
We'll burn it down  
Burn burn the truth  
Enjoy the flames  
In celebration  
Enjoy the sound  
For us, for them, for you

I know that I've been told  
My integrity was sold  
Priced and placed upon the shelf  
It's worth it's weight in gold  
But do you think we've lost our minds?  
Yeah we can see through all your lies"

---Lostprophets; Burn Burn

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat #4738947328995647 has opened**

**UltimateKaton: Don't be such a girl, Weasel and tell us how you're life's changed.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: Can this conversation be any more irritating?**

**XxjustSuixX: suck it up.**

**FanManAvenger:D**

**UltimateKaton: I got laaaidddd.**

**XxjustSuixX: I think that was a little too much information.**

**UltimateKaton: I think that your boyfriend wants to tie you up and have his wicked way with you.**

**XxjustSuixX: Damnit! Why does everyone know about that?**

**FanManAvenger!: It's common knowledge.**

**UltimateKaton: Dude, I'm a teacher. How out of the loop are you? **

**XxjustSuixX: which you failed to tell me.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: This is even weirder can we talk about something else?**

**UltimateKaton: Why because you're the only virgin left? I mean, even if Shisui has to be bottom he's still getting some.**

**FanManAvenger!: This is weird.**

**XxjustSuixX: I'm not the bottom.**

**UltimateKaton/FanManAvenger!/SelfLoathersUnite: Yes you are.**

**XxjustSuixX: If I'm bottom, then Sasuke definitely is as well.**

**FanManAvenger!: Thanks Shisui. You're the best.  
**

**UltimateKaton: You see for him to be a bottom he'd need someone to top him. Seeing as things are the way they are that's not going to happen anytime soon.**

**XxjustSuixX:…**

**ScarecrowSensei has entered room **

**ScarecrowSensei: Maaa, Obito-kun come back to bed?**

**FanManAvenger!: This is way too weird.**

**SelfLoathersUnite: I'm sorry I just vomited everywhere.**

**UltimateKaton: In a minute—I need to finish annoying these kids.**

**ScarecrowSensei: Don't be too hard on them, Obito-kun.**

**XxjustSuixX: Come on, tell us. Who better to tell than family? We're all as fucked up as you are.**

**FanManAvenger!: Oh my God. I can't take it anymore. Itachi**

**FanManAvenger! has signed off**

**SelfLoathersUnite has signed off**

**UltimateKaton: Well, would you look at that. **

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"I can't believe that you were going to tell them." Itachi said as he sat down on Sasuke's bed.

Sasuke rubbed his neck; "I can't believe you just put me in a headlock.

Itachi smiled, Sasuke rolled his eyes, "If I knew getting you laid would make you less of a tight ass I would have done it years ago."

Itachi's face soured almost immediately, "Oh I see. It's not the sex it's the Kabuto." Sasuke said smugly, getting hit in the face with a pillow.

"I guess that this should be good for you. A real relationship. It should be nice." Sasuke said benevolently, sighing as he did so. "It seems that everyone's heading for the nice white picket fence with adopted kids and a pet of some sort."

Itachi replied, "Sasuke, it's not your fault, don't beat yourself up about it."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"What's wrong?" Itachi asked Kabuto concernedly.

Kabuto was staring distantly off, not blinking, not moving.

Itachi looked at him searchingly, "Kabuto. Kabuto are you all right? Kabuto look at me. Kabuto." He asked worriedly, wrapping his arms around Kabuto's waist.

"Huh. Oh, Itachi-kun did you say something? I'm sorry I zoned out on you." Kabuto laughed sheepishly. Itachi frowned.

"Only when I told you I loved you." He noted wryly.

"Eh? Really? Sorry. I wasn't listening."

Itachi shook his head, "Kabuto, I think now might be a good time to tell me why you've been MIA for months."

Kabuto looked away, "Itachi-kun--"

"No, Kabuto I need to know. Really, if you don't want me to tell anyone else I won't. Please. Tell me." Itachi said, pressing a kiss to the back of Kabuto's neck.

"I--" Kabuto started but stopped himself. There were tears running down his face.

"Kabuto, what's wrong?" Itachi said, _I made him cry. This is not a good sign. _

"Tell me what's wrong. Please. I'm begging you. I don't do that for just anyone you know. I love you. Please tell me."

Kabuto hiccupped, "I—I—I—"

"Breathe. It's all right, just breathe." Itachi said, inwardly cringing. _ I'm a horrible person. I belong in jail; I shouldn't be allowed to have any human contact with anyone. _

When it seemed like Kabuto had calmed down sufficiently, Itachi carefully prodded him, "It's okay."

He took a big gasping breath, "Itachi-kun I don't deserve you. You're too good to me."

Itachi smiled weakly, "I'm really not. Look I've made a very cute and very vulnerable boy cry whilst in bed with him." Kabuto laughed.

"My dad was a doctor, you know."

"Really? That's great." Itachi said encouragingly.

"He had his own practice and everything; and my mom was a homemaker."

"Mhmmhmm."

"We were happy, until my mom died. She—She'd been sick for awhile and when it happened my dad kind of lost it."

Itachi nodded empathetically.

"He started drinking and gambling and pretty soon he'd racked up an enormous debt. To pay off the credit card companies and to stop our house from going into foreclosure he borrowed some money from loan sharks. Not the best financial move let me tell you. So that's how it started. We were fine for a little while. But then the people he borrowed from came to collect. Surprise, surprise he didn't have the money.

They made him a deal, if he would write them bogus prescriptions, Vicodin, Morphine, Prozac, Benzene, Amphetamines, then he could pay off his debt. So he did but eventually his conscience caught up to him and he couldn't take what he'd done, do no harm and all that, he committed suicide. I was twelve. I had no other relatives.

Then they came to pay me a visit, apparently he still owed them a tidy sum, and I was now responsible for it. So they made me a deal. And that's why I go to love motels with strange men."

"Why were you absent so much?"

"The thing about sleeping with strange men is that they don't usually care about whether it looks suspicious going to school with bruises on most of your body."

Itachi looked horrified, "They hurt you?"

"Yes."

He held Kabuto tighter, "Bastards. I should kill them."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke laughed as Naruto retold a particularly funny story about Gaara and his secret love for fuzzy bunny slippers. He'd forgotten how good it was to hang out with old friends again.

Their group seemed to have doubled in his absence. Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Ukon, Naruto, Gaara, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Temari had accompanied him to their local burger joint to down pieces of fried fat and swap embarrassing stories.

"Shut up Naruto you still sleep with a security blanket." Sasuke chimed in effectively neutralizing Gaara's discomfort.

"And what about that stupid hat with the teeth?" Kiba added, attached to Ukon's side.

"Hey!" The table burst into uproarious laughter.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." Sasuke noted as Kabuto walked by, Itachi in tow.

"Sasuke." Itachi said in warning.

"I won't bite I promise." Sasuke said holding his hands up, palms facing Itachi.

His brother gave Sasuke an even look.

"I really won't."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

Sasuke was in History when he felt his phone vibrate. Making sure that Gai was sufficiently distracted he flipped it open to note that he had one new message.

**1 NEW MSG**

**From: Obito**

**To: Sasuke**

**Runt, we need a vacation. How does the beach sound?**

"What the hell?" Sasuke muttered to himself in confusion.

**From: Sasuke**

**To: Obito**

**What the hell are you going on about? School is going to end soon. **

**From: Obito**

**To: Sasuke**

**What are you stupid? I know that we have summer vacation. I meant a getaway. You know when you stay in a hotel and go swimming and build sandcastles? **

**From: Sasuke**

**To: Obito**

**Are you retarded? Can't it wait? I have finals. **

**From: Obito**

**To: Sasuke**

**What subject is your last final in?**

**From: Sasuke**

**To: Obito**

**Your husband's.**

**From: Obito**

**To: Sasuke**

**You're damned lucky that he is, otherwise he wouldn't let you take it advance so we can get away. **

**From: Sasuke**

**To: Obito**

**What's your damage? I can take it with everyone else. I don't want to go on vacation. **

**From: Obito**

**To: Sasuke**

**I'm not going to let you just stew in your own emotions. **

**From: Sasuke**

**To: Obito**

**I am not stewing. **

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"I'm not stewing. Really." Sasuke insisted as he stood in the middle of his room uncomfortably, watching as Itachi packed him a bag.

"You are. You need this vacation." Itachi said frankly, neatly folding things. "Where do you keep your socks?"

"I'm a big boy; you don't need to take care of me."

"Sun block. You definitely need sun block. You're as white as sheet. I think Mom has the spray on kind." Itachi said pensively, hand on his chin.

Shisui poked his head in, "All done? Obito's outside."

Sasuke groaned.

"You're so cute when you're mad." Itachi said, ruffling his little brother's spikes affectionately.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"I'm not that much paler than you." Sasuke said petulantly from the backseat as Shisui and Itachi jockeyed for the correct radio station.

"Talk about a delayed reaction." Obito remarked from behind the wheel.

"I'm not."

"Sasuke you're paler than a glass of milk." Shisui said who sported a healthy tan year round. Stupid jock meat head.

"Shut up."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

**Chat room #645649846 has been opened**

**DeathisNoESCAPE has entered room**

**RedAsBlood09666 has entered room**

**RedAsBlood09666: Where the hell have you been?**

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Hello to you too. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Pearlie has been worried sick over you. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Has she? That's considerate of her. **

**RedAsBlood09666: She's a considerate person. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Look, I'd appreciate if you didn't tell her that I was online. I'm really not supposed to be. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Tell me why you were AWOL for so long. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Ugh. I really can't. You should know that. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Then I guess I'll have to tell her that you were online and didn't want her to know about it. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: NO! Please don't. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Just tell me. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I reaaaally can't. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Okay maybe this is the time to use that to trust other people you have to trust yourself first crap that Pearl is always on about. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: What?**

**RedAsBlood09666: You're not the only one with problems. I'm on prescription medication so the voices in my head don't make me kill everyone I love. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…**

**RedAsBlood09666: And my dad, he kind of has a temper. He usually feels better when he punches me or Kankurou in the stomach though. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…**

**RedAsBlood09666: My mom's dead and my dad blames me for it. On my birthday, which coincidentally is the anniversary of her death he never fails to remind me of this fact. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE:…**

**RedAsBlood09666: Oh and here's the kicker. I've finally got a relationship with that special someone I've been whining about for so long but because of my happy pills I will never be able to get it up for him. So who knows how long that's going to last. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: Oh. **

**RedAsBlood09666: Oh? I've laid my soul out to you and all you have to say is oh? **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: …**

**RedAsBlood09666: Damn right. **

**DeathisNoESCAPE: I expect that you'll want me to tell you my mordant and otherwise scarring life story as well.**

**RedAsBlood09666: Yes. Yes. Yes. A million times yes.  
**

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"I didn't engineer this whole getaway so you could sit on a towel and read a psychological thriller under an umbrella." Shisui said as Sasuke turned a page.

"I didn't ask you to engineer this whole getaway, did I?" Sasuke said acidly, turning a page daintily.

Obito repressed the urge to hit Sasuke over the head with his book, patience is key when dealing with hormonal sexually deprived adolescents.

So, Sasuke really shouldn't have been surprised when Itachi and Shisui were recruited to throw him into the sea.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

After his rather soggy rendezvous with the ocean, Itachi and Obito had retreated to their hotel room but Shisui and Sasuke had ended up browsing in nearby shops for knick knacks to bring back to their respective loving mothers.

Sasuke was engrossed in flipping snow globes over so the snow fell when Shisui came way to close to him and whispered, "Is that guy checking me out?"

"Come on. You came out of the closet like five seconds ago. Give it a rest." Sasuke said, rolling his eyes and moving on to look at decorative postcards.

"I'm serious. He keeps looking over here."

"Maybe he's wondering why you continue to hover over me like a helicopter." Sasuke said browsing through key chains. _Don't flatter yourself so, Cousin. _

"He's waving." Shisui said nervously, waving back. Sasuke rolled his eyes at Shisui's obvious incompetence.

"You have a boyfriend." Sasuke pointed out drably.

"Yeah, but he doesn't know that."

Sasuke gaped at the sight of his cousin, "When did you become such a manslut?"

"Shut up, he's coming over."

"Why would he possibly want to come over?" Sasuke's question was left unanswered as said pieced of man candy introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Raito."

Raito had a set of pearly whites that a piano would be jealous of, Sasuke noted in partial disgust. Shisui blinked, what the hell? Why was Sasuke acting like a lump?

"Shisui. And my cousin Sasuke." he said, grinning affably.

"Where are you guys from?" This buffoon was still smiling from ear to ear like some ridiculous clown.

"Konoha. Are we that obvious?" Shisui said cheerfully. Sasuke was fixing to stab him with a plastic foot filled with sand in a place where the sun don't shine.

"Not particularly, but locals don't generally put stock in key chains with sand in them." Said buffoon kept grinning like a jack-o-lantern.

"Ah."

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Where is Sasuke?" Obito asked, playing checkers with Itachi in their hotel room.

"With a boy." Shisui said smugly, turning on the TV.

"What boy?" Obito asked carefully.

"King me." Itachi said blandly, tugging on one of his bangs thoughtfully.

"We met him at the souvenir shop." Shisui said, frowning at the cooking show that appeared on the screen before changing the channel.

_§§§§§§§§§§§_

"Most influential? I'd go with Sugizo." Sasuke said.

"Luna Sea? Personally, I'm more partial to Hide." Raito said, smiling.

"X Japan? The only songs they ever wrote were ballads. Hide's the Kurt Cobain of Japan. It's been like twenty years and Yoshiki still hasn't gotten over it. His blog entries are still emo." Sasuke exclaimed indignantly.

"Hey! I like their music. Yoshiki and Hide were great friends. I'd still be sad. Yoshiki went on to manage Dir. Awesome band."

"After twenty years, I think I'd get over it. I sort of lost respect for Dir after they went on tour with Korn." Sasuke said dryly. _Why do I meet guys that I have so much in common with at the most inopportune times?_

"Unless they were more than friends."

"Oh. Okay, you're a yaoi fan girl in disguise I see." _Oh. Why did you say that? I don't want to like you. Stupid smiley guy. _

"Ew. No. That's just weird."

"Dir or Gazette?" Sasuke asked, curiously.

"No! I could never choose between them."

Sasuke was silent. _Goddamn. Shisui set me up with my musical soul mate. Well. There'll be no living with him after this._

**END**

I would like to apologize about the mammoth wait for this one. My computer conspired to keep me from ficcing at all as it broke twice in the span of the last few weeks.

So I wrote you guys ten pages in the hope that I still have reviewers after this.

Lol and also the opinions mentioned above of jrock are purely my own.

YoungSasuke- lol

Papercut ai- thanks.

Turtle kid- How is that weird? That's my job.

Taiy-Chan- Lol.

WiFi Hidden Fong- Lol. Thanks.

TrinityBlood- I try.

Niver- Thanks

Resoan- Lol. A reviewer after my own heart.

Nellie330- hah.


	18. Music is My Boyfriend

**This Is How A Heart Breaks **

**By Jasmine Starlight**

Full Summary: Yaoi/het. Neji/Sasu Sasuke's slightly mordant; Itachi just might be a sociopath. Maybe Gaara is from a broken home. Neji just may be in the closet. Maybe Naruto might be lonely. Maybe Kabuto needs someone to love. Maybe Kakashi might need someone to hold. Maybe Sakura might need real friends. Maybe Temari needs a reality check. Maybe Kankurou needs anger management. Maybe Jiraiya needs Tsunade. Maybe Orochimaru needs them both. Maybe Hinata needs freedom. Maybe Kiba might need acceptance. Maybe Ino needs confidence. Maybe Tenten needs medication. Perhaps Shikamaru needs love. Shino, quite possibly could need companionship. Maybe Tayuya is hiding behind her personality. Maybe Haku fears rejection. Maybe Kimimaro desires friendship. Maybe Lee is crying out for attention. Maybe Obito needs compassion.

Pairings: Neji/Sasu…Kimimaro/Haku…Obito/Kakashi eventual…then Itachi/Kabuto…Tenten/Kankurou…Naruto/Gaara Orochimaru/Jiraiya/Tsunade…Open to suggestions. Shikamaru/Temari…Kiba/Ukon! Zaku/Kin… Hinata/Shino…Tayuya/Lee. Dosu/Kidoumaru…Zabuza/Haku…then…Zabuza/Kisame! Shisui/Sakon! Ino/Sakura.

My hard drive crashed like woah. So I lost everything. Every fic I every wrote.

Including the almost done chapter 18 of this fic. Which I had to rewrite from scratch.

Sorry about the flower puns, I just couldn't help myself. I felt like I was ignoring them because their relationship is yuri and I shyed away from it because I'm better at yaoi.

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

**MUSIC IS MY BOYFRIEND**

"From all the drugs the one I like more is music  
From all the junks the one I need more is music  
From all the boys the one I take home is music  
From all the ladies the one I kiss is music (muah!)

Music is my boyfriend  
Music is my girlfriend  
Music is my dead end  
Music is my imaginary friend

Music is my brother  
Music is my great-grand-daughter  
Music is my sister  
Music is my favorite mistress

From all the shit the one I gotta buy is music  
From all the jobs the one I choose is music  
From all the drinks the one I get drunk is music  
From all the bitches the one I wanna be is music

Music is my beach house  
Music is my hometown  
Music is my king-size bed  
Music's where I make my friends  
Music is my hot hot bath  
Music is my hot hot sex  
Music is my back rub  
My music is where I'd like you to touch"

--CSS; Music is My Boyfriend

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

Itachi groaned and clutched his head as he woke from his alcohol induced haze. He and Shisui had had the bright idea of Drunken Truth or Dare followed by Drunken Monopoly.

It wasn't because either of them were lightweights. It was quite the opposite really it was more the fact that they each had above average tolerances for alcohol. And neither would be the first to concede. Obviously.

Itachi slouched his way out of bed, a hand covering his eyes from the early morning sunlight, "What the fuck?" he exclaimed as he tripped over Shisui's stuff. He turned to look at his roommate, who was sprawled out on his bed snoring away.

"How can you live like this?" Itachi mumbled to himself as he tried to make his way to the table without tripping. As if in agreement, Shisui snored louder. Suffice it to say that Itachi's bed was the standard by which all hospital corners are measured.

He made his way over to his cell phone, where it glowed softly as it charged. Flipping it open he cursed again.

"Oh shit."

_2 Missed Calls from Kabuto_

"Motherfuck."

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

"What about American bands?"

"Personally, I'm partial to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs."

_Fuck, did Shisui create you in a lab?_

"What about you?"

As Sasuke took a moment to think he looked down at his feet which were covered in grains of sand.

"Me? Nirvana probably, and The Strokes and Weezer." Sasuke said as he looked up at the sky.

"Kurt Kobain?"

"Sorry, I like the original better than the imitation." Sasuke retorted cheekily.

"Ouch. That gets me right here." Raito said, miming injury and holding his chest.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

**Chat 4524545455573**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: Hey.**

**BlondeBombshell: Hey.**

**BlondeBombshell: What's up?**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: Oh. Nothing much. I just wanted to tell you something.**

**BlondeBombshell: Really? What?**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: Oh, it's really nothing. It's just that I love you. **

**BlondeBombshell: What? That's not funny.**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: It's not a joke. It's the honest to blog truth. I love you. **

**BlondeBombshell: Stop it Sakura! This is unnatural!**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: No it isn't. I love you and I always have. I think I always will. **

**BlondeBombshell:…**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: I don't know what happened to you. I wanted to know what turned you into such a shrinking violet. **

**BlondeBombshell:…**

**DeadlyPinkPetals: Especially when I know you can be a tiger lily. **

_**DeadlyPinkPetals has signed off. **_

_**DeadlyPinkPetals has signed on. **_

**DeadlyPinkPetals: with a great rack. xD**

_**DeadlyPinkPetals has signed off.**_

_**BlondeBombshell has signed off.**_

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

Ino sat her in familial shop in a daze after her conversation with her best friend. What was she going to do?

Why was Sakura so brave? It's like Ino had turned around and Sakura had somehow become this confident capable woman.

It was really kind of hot.

Ino blinked and shook herself. She couldn't get distracted. She needed to figure this out.

If she really was gay, then she eventually needed to come out of the closet.

If she wasn't and this was just a passing fad, there was no reason to be obsessing over Sakura's lips.

Ino groaned at the irony of the situation, she had spent most of her prepubescent life chasing after Sasuke not to only find out that: A) he was a flaming mo B) she was a flaming mo and C) Sakura was a flaming mo

Work, that's what she needed. If she did some work, then she could take her mind off her current quandary.

So Ino set about sorting the freshest shipments of flowers.

Agrimony for thankfulness, aloe for grief, arbor vitae for unchanging friendship, acacia for secret chaste love, purple lilacs for the first emotion of love, light pink roses for desire and passion, and striped carnations for refusal?

What the fuck?

Ino had always known that flowers had their own special language, in which messages could be sent without ever uttering a word or setting a drop of ink to paper.

Floriculture had been her family's trade since the Meiji. She had been raised learning these meanings.

Were they—were flowers trying to talk to her?

Ino scrunched up her face and took great, big, gulping breaths. Making up her mind, she set herself to her task.

She gathered dahlias, arbor vitae, gorses, forget-me-nots, red chrysanthemums, red tulips, blue violets, and celandines. Ino tied back her mane into a practical ponytail. It would take a miracle worker to make this mismatched bunch of flowers into a seamless bouquet.

But her family hadn't been in this business for this long for their next heir to fail at what seemed to be her most important task of her young life. Ino may not have known her sexual orientation but she knew flowers.

Ino took a breath to center her mind. She took a medium sized vase and filled it with water and a packet of plant food. She closed her eyes and selected the first bloom.

A blue violet for faithfulness.

A forget-me-not for true love.

A gorse for love in all seasons.

A dahlia for elegance and dignity.

Red chrysanthemums for I love.

A red tulip for declaration of love.

A celandine for joys to come.

And finally arbor vitae for unchanging friendship.

Ino surveyed her masterpiece with minute pride. But she wasn't the real judge of this ephemeral symbol of her relationship with Sakura.

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

"Are you sure about this?" Shino asked Hinata, looking her earnestly in the eyes.

"Yes."

"Absolutely?"

"Positively."

"You're going down."

"We'll see about that Shino-kun." Hinata said her lips quirking into a smile.

"Loser buys." Shino said quietly, looking at Hinata out of the corner of his eye.

Hinata smiled as she picked the song and set her difficulty level to heavy.

"Best get your wallet out then, Shino-kun."

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

Shino pouted as Hinata crowed over his defeat at DDR.

"It's alright Shino-kun; you're just not on my level yet."

Shino rolled his eyes and laughed. "Alright let's get this ridiculousness over with." Shino said evenly as he offered Hinata his arm and lead her to his car.

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

"Regular?"

"What about strawberry?"

"What?"

"I thought you liked strawberries. I guess not. What about cherry?"

"Cherry."

"I think it fits. Doesn't it?"

Shino said nothing and made his way to the cashier. Cherry flavored condoms in hand.

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

Itachi squinted down at his plate of eggs to distract himself from the sledgehammer orchestra being conducted inside his brain.

"You look cheerful." Obito said as he slid in the seat across from Itachi, Sasuke sliding into the booth after him.

"Shut up."

"What were you doing all night?" _What were you doing all night, otouto?_

"Playing drunken go fish with Shisui." Obito answered as he buttered a piece of toast.

"Like you should talk."

"Do I want to know what Obito was doing all night?" Sasuke asked as he poured himself a cup of orange juice.

"Or who." Itachi muttered.

"Who?" Sasuke asked incredulously, his eyes going the size of their plates.

"Over the phone." Itachi continued muttering to his breakfast, glaring at his coffee willing it to jump into his mouth.

"Oh. Okay." Sasuke said, eyes returning to their normal size.

"The only reason I was able to do that was because my roommate was conspicuously missing all night." Obito said pointedly.

Sasuke looked down at his plate of food. "I don't feel like repeating myself, so can we wait until Shisui wakes up?"

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

It had been awkward and immature. But it was worth it, it was their very first time. Shino's parents weren't home. His room smelled of toasted peanuts and the comforter was warm under Hinata's palm.

Shino returned from the kitchen with something behind his back. Hinata surveyed her old friend's room. There were the usual posters of bands, a computer, a gargantuan ant farm, and an orchid on the windowsill. Above his bed there was a poster of a huge purple flower.

Hinata returned her gaze to Shino as he sprayed the orchid delicately with a mini spray bottle.

"It's very beautiful."

Shino looked up at her and smiled, his glasses were off and Hinata could see his warm brown eyes.

"Orchids require a lot of care and attention. You can't forget about them like normal houseplants. They're delicate." Shino said, placing his bottle down on his computer desk and moving toward the bed.

"Really?"

Shino reached Hinata and grasped her hand in his; he leaned in close and whispered in her ear, "Yes."

Hinata shivered and allowed herself to fall back onto Shino's bed. He fell down next to her, and studied his real life orchid closely. Shino stuck out his hand and traced the shell of Hinata's ear, the curve of her chest, her flat stomach, and her smooth legs.

"Shino-kun--" Hinata started to say, emotion bubbling up in her chest, but Shino put a finger to her lips.

"I know."

She smiled.

**FUCKERSWONTSUPPORTMYDIVIDERSALLOFASUDDEN**

Shisui woke up leisurely, stretching his arms above his head and slowing getting out bed.

He was brushing his teeth when he heard his cell ring, he ran out of the bathroom to get it.

"Sakon? Hey. What's up?" Shisui said as he spat and rinsed his mouth out.

"Aw, really? I miss you too babe."

Shisui set to spiking his hair, "Right now? Just my pajama pants. What are you wearing? Mmmm—you know that's my favorite outfit of yours."

He looked at himself in the mirror, "Why? It accentuates your greatest asset."

"What's that you ask? Your tight little ass."

**END**

I didn't want to end there but I really wanted to post this.

My computer and my life are made of so much fail.

**Dragon77- **thanks!

**Nellie330- **I love cookies!

**Papercut ai- **I totally agree. I love writing the Uchihas. I just can't get enough.

**Rabidbutterfly- **I'm sorry but…I hate Gackt and Mana. I still love you though.

**DancingDragonBlaze- **Sadly, he is an oc. I usually abhor writing them. But there wasn't a character in Naruto I could use for this purpose and discard him. T-T

**Pauline no danna- **Thanks! I try.

**YoungSasuke- **Who knows? Nfu. Nfu…

**Resoan- **Don't worry. It's still going to be Neji/Sasu. Neji needs to stop being a huge douche though.

**Crimson-Ranger- **Lol.

**Niver- **I LOVE YOU. HAVE MY BABIES, KTHX

**WiFi Hidden Frog- **THANKS!

**Morely-** I love earnest reviewers like you!

**Atra- **THANKS!

**Trisanor- **Thanks!

**Miss Anonymous hp- **I love your review!

**Nostalgically sweet- **Thanks!

Did I ever mention how much I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Well I do.

Reviewers make my job worthwhile.


End file.
